French production giant Banijay Group, the largest independent television producer (Peaky Blinders, Black mirror, Big brother, Master Chef, Survivor) and UK production force All3Media (Traitors, Squid game: Challenge, Race all over the world, The tourist, 1917) has struck a deal with an enterprise value of $8 billion to merge its production business, creating a new giant industry.
All3Media, owned by Jeff Zucker and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird IMI, is led by CEO Gene Turton. Banijay’s leader is Marco Bassetti, who will be CEO of the combined company. In the deal unveiled on March 3, each company will own a 50 percent stake in the combined company. Zucker will be chairman of the combined company’s board of directors. The companies expect the deal to close this fall.
“When we founded RedBird IMI three years ago, we dreamed of creating a global, diversified entertainment company that would reach global audiences across scripted and unscripted programming, live and digital events,” Zucker said. “With this combination of Banijay Entertainment and All3Media, we have achieved this goal, and we are thrilled to partner with the entire Banjay team.”
Both companies are considered to be India’s super companies. Given the industry-wide rush to expand scope and cut costs, it is understood that both have in the past considered buying ITV’s studio division.
The deal brings together a group of production companies. Banijay banners include the likes of Kudos, Tiger Aspect and Shine TV. All3Media’s production brands include the likes of Lion Television, Objective Media Group and Silverback Films.
The two companies expect the cost of the deal to reach 50 million euros, or $58 million at today’s currency exchange rate. The combined company would have achieved revenues of more than €4.4 billion and adjusted EBITDA of €690 million in 2024, the companies say.
François Riahi, CEO of Banijay Group, said: “This deal represents a decisive step in Banijay Group’s strategy to strengthen its leading position in the global entertainment space.” “Banjay Entertainment and All3Media are two highly complementary platforms with exceptional creative assets and global ambition. Across all of our businesses, we drive consolidation, and this deal is further evidence of that in content production, just as the acquisition of Tipico was recently announced in sports betting and online gaming.”
Bassetti highlighted the benefits of high volume last summer. “We live in a world where consolidation and scale are really important,” he said, explaining that a few years ago, the company feared it would be seen as “too big and too powerful.” But now, more consolidation is beneficial to industry players who need hit content, intellectual property and production budgets in line with audiences’ expectations.
Zucker, the former president of CNN and CEO of NBCUniversal, emphasized that the investment firm he now works for is focused on the core idea that “high-quality intellectual property and content, whether entertainment or news and information, will succeed over the long term with the right amount of capital and patience.” So, instead of cutting costs and “just having to manage decline,” his team was focused on investing, building and growing.
To that end, RedBird IMI will acquire All3Media in 2024 for $1.45 billion. It is now building on this asset.
