ITV has acquired indie producer The Garden for a reported £18m in cash. The Garden – producer of Channel 4”s 24 Hours in A&E – will receive an unstipulated further cash payment depending on its performance over the next five years.

It marks yet another acquisition for the broadcaster after it purchased So Television last year for an initial £10m payment in cash, and US indie Gurney Productions at the beginning of this year.

Commenting on the deal, ITV Studios managing director Kevin Lygo said: “The Garden has grown rapidly and achieved an enviable reputation for outstanding delivery of innovative, ambitious documentary series for the BBC and Channel 4. A key focus for ITV is to develop hit programmes which we can then export globally and The Garden already has an impressive track record.”

Launched in 2010 by Nick Curwin and Magnus Temple, The Garden specialises in observational documentaries (often using fixed-rig cameras), such as Channel 4”s Seven Dwarves and Keeping Britain Alive: The NHS in a Day, currently airing on BBC Two. Its biggest hit, Channel 4”s 24 Hours in A&E has been sold in over 100 countries.

Which indie is next on ITV”s acquisition radar we wonder?