Berlin-based producer and distributor DCM has acquired Switzerland’s biggest independent distributor Ascot Elite Entertainment.
Created in 1928, family-run Ascot Elite is one of Switzerland’s oldest distribution and production companies with recent releases including Marty Supreme, No Other Choice and The Housemaid.
The parties said in a joint release on Thursday that the acquisition had come about after Ascot Elite owners Karin G. Dietrich, Ralph S. Dietrich and Stephan Giger approached DCM in a bid to set in motion a smooth handover of the family-run company.
They said that despite being competitors, there had always been cordial relations between Ascot Elite’s owners and DCM’s founding partners Dario Suter, Christoph Daniel, Marc Schmidheiny and Joel Brandeis as well as with Stephanie Candinas, the managing director of DCM’s operations in Switzerland.
Under the agreement, Ascot Elite’s owners have transferred 100% ownership of their 23-employee company to DCM with effect from 19 March 2026.
They believe the move will ensure that the company’s established market leadership, strong national and international network, and history dating back to 1928 will continue into “a successful future”.
The takeover marks the next step in DCM’s growth strategy and expands its market position in film production and distribution in the German-speaking world.
Suter, Daniel and Schmidheiny founded DCM as film production company in 2008, and were then joined by Brandeisi in 2010.
Following the production of its first feature film, Waffenstillstand, the company got involved in film distribution as well by taking over the Berlin-based film distributor Delphi Filmverleih in 2011. In 2013, DCM extended its distribution business to Switzerland with Candinas at the helm.
The previous owners will remain involved in the company as independent producers and members of the Board of Directors. This ensures continuity while enabling the company to realign for the future.
“We are very pleased to open this new chapter with DCM and entrust our life’s work to a strong player. Ever since we first met Dario, Christoph, Marc and Joel at the start of the last decade, we have enjoyed exceptionally good relations based on high esteem and mutual trust. The new constellation guarantees the continuity we value so highly and sets the course for the future,” said the Ascot Elite’s owners.
Speaking on behalf of DCM, Brandeis added: “We have worked very successfully with the Ascot Elite team on numerous occasions for more than twelve years. Over that period, immense mutual trust has been established.”
Candinas will assume full responsibility for the executive management of the company as the Board of Directors’ delegate. Giger will remain in place as co-Managing Director for a transitional period. Both companies and their respective teams will be merged over the course of this year, after which the new entity will operate under the DCM brand.
Candinas said: “I am really delighted to see both teams come together and pool our expertise as a strong, single entity that will take our buying and film marketing operations to the next level going forward.”
