The megadeal of French production giant Banijay, the largest 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 could be next, given past reports that Banijay had been looking at a bid.
ITV Studios hit franchises include the likes of Love Island, Disney+ series Rivals, The Voice, and Netflix’s Fool 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 in the combined firm. Banijay CEO Marco Bassetti will become the CEO of the merged firm. All3Media, owned by the Jeff Zucker and Gerry Cardinale-led venture firm RedBird IMI, is led by CEO Jane Turton. Zucker will serve as chairman of the board of the merged company. The companies expect the deal to close in the fall.
The deal brings together a range 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 Films. The companies 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 disappointed not to get that asset back then, but ended up bringing it into the fold now after patience and about a year of talks.
Still, analysts asked on the call if more deals could be next, particularly for ITV Studios, which French media reports suggested overnight. “Consolidation is the name of the game,” Riahi said, calling the All3Media deal an example of “transformative consolidation.” And he highlighted: “The fact that we are strengthening our capabilities in English-speaking countries, and especially the U.K. and the U.S., is strengthening, naturally, our position with global platforms,” such as Netflix.
So, how about adding ITV Studios to the mix? “What I said to the French press was, we are [excluding] nothing,” which also goes for ITV Studios and “every other studio,” Riahi said. “But I think clearly the point is that today, consolidation is the name of the game. When you look at the Warner-Paramount deal, it’s very easy to understand why you need to be big and global to be relevant in this sector. So we share this view with RedBird IMI.”
He concluded: “Why is Warner valued [at] so much? Because, in our industry, IP, scale and global position are very important.” And with the All3Media deal, “that is what we are strengthening.”