The megadeal of French production giant Banijay, the biggest independent TV producer (Peaky Blinders, Black Mirror, Big Brother, MasterChef, Survivor), and U.K. production powerhouse All3Media (The Traitors, Squid Game: The Challenge, Race Across the World, The Tourist, 1917) has just been unveiled. But industry observers are already wondering if U.K. TV giant ITV’s production arm ITV Studios may very well be next, given past reports that Banijay had been a bid.
ITV Studios hit franchises include the likes of Love Island, Disney+ series Rivals, The Voice, and Netflix’s Idiot Me Once.
The Banijay-All3Media merger has an enterprise value of $8 billion and was unveiled late Tuesday. Each company will own a 50 percent stake within the combined firm. Banijay CEO Marco Bassetti will develop into the CEO of the merged firm. All3Media, owned by the Jeff Zucker and Gerry Cardinale-led enterprise firm RedBird IMI, is led by CEO Jane Turton. Zucker will function chairman of the board of the merged company. The businesses expect the deal to shut in the autumn.
The deal brings together a spread of production firms. Banijay’s 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 Movies. The businesses expect cost synergies from the deal to amount to €50 million, or $58 million in current currency exchange rate. The firms say that the combined firm would have generated revenues exceeding €4.4 billion and adjusted EBITDA of €690 million in 2024.
RedBird IMI had acquired All3Media in 2024 for $1.45 billion, and François Riahi, the CEO of Banijay Group, the parent company of Banijay, shared on a Wednesday conference call that his team was dissatisfied to not get that asset back then, but ended up bringing it into the fold now after patience and a few yr of talks.
Still, analysts asked on the decision if more deals may very well be next, particularly for ITV Studios, which French media reports suggested overnight. “Consolidation is the secret,” Riahi said, calling the All3Media deal an example of “transformative consolidation.” And he highlighted: “The incontrovertible fact that we’re strengthening our capabilities in English-speaking countries, and particularly the U.K. and the U.S., is strengthening, naturally, our position with global platforms,” reminiscent of Netflix.
So, how about adding ITV Studios to the combination? “What I said to the French press was, we’re [excluding] nothing,” which also goes for ITV Studios and “every other studio,” Riahi said. “But I believe clearly the purpose is that today, consolidation is the secret. While you have a look at the Warner-Paramount deal, it’s very easy to know why you’ll want to be big and global to be relevant on this sector. So we share this view with RedBird IMI.”