Sky confirmed on the stock market this morning the purchase of Lightbox.
A statement says the pay TV broadcaster has entered into a conditional agreement to buy the streaming service from Spark, which first launched the service in 2014.
The deal is conditional on commercial, legal and regulatory approvals as required, and Sky and Spark anticipate completion by early 2020.
The deal enables Sky to merge Lightbox with its own entertainment streaming service Neon.
"Sky will bring our Neon service together with Lightbox during 2020 to offer New Zealanders an outstanding range of entertainment content from New Zealand and around the world in a proudly kiwi way," said Sophie Moloney, Sky's chief legal, people and partnerships officer.
"With the increasing arrival of the mammoth global players in the New Zealand market, the purchase of Lightbox allows Sky to offer an enhanced, highly appealing and competitive entertainment service, delivered by kiwis to kiwis.
The move comes off the back of the arrival of Disney Plus in the local market, which led to Sky losing the Disney and Disney Junior channels from November 30.
Sky says the new service will combine the best features of Neon and Lightbox.
Spark's Marketing Director, Matt Bain said he was happy to have found an ongoing home for Lightbox.
"Following the completion of the deal, we'll be working closely with Sky to ensure that all existing Lightbox fans have a positive experience through this transition period, and we look forward to partnering with Sky to offer the enhanced new service to Spark customers," Bain said.
