
Banijay Entertainment and All3Media have completed their merger, creating a new London-based production and distribution giant that makes and sells shows including The Traitors, Big Brother, MasterChef and Peaky Blinders. The combined $8BN entity is called Banijay Entertainment.
Coming shortly after the Sky-ITV deal, which redraws the UK TV landscape, this merger reshapes the international TV market. It creates a new business with hundreds of thousands of hours of programming and almost 200 production companies and labels.
The deal, now completed, was announced in March. Banijay Group and RedBird IMI, the joint venture between RedBird Capital Partners and Abu Dhabi-based IMI media group, inked a deal to merge the two companies. The partners said the combined entity would have generated pro forma revenues of €7.4BN ($8.5BN) based on 2024 numbers. They added that the merger will result in €50M ($57M) in cost savings.
Marco Bassetti, who was CEO of Banijay Entertainment, becomes CEO of the newly formed group. Jane Turton, formerly CEO of All3Media, becomes Deputy CEO. Jeff Zucker, CEO of RedBird IMI, takes the role of Chairman of the Board of the new combined entity.
Banijay has about 130 production companies across the world. All3Media, which is largely based in the UK, U.S. and Germany, has around 40. The newly combined business has a huge catalog exceeding 265,000 hours. Each previously had a dedicated distribution arm, under Cathy Payne for Banijay Rights and Louise Pedersen at All3Media International.
“This is the world’s largest independent media content company by catalog, by hours, production, by any measure, with an enterprise value of $8 billion and equity value of $5 billion,” Zucker told Deadline when the deal was announced.
Today, Zucker said: “The completion of this merger marks a new era in global entertainment and creates a new independent leader in that category. With Marco and Jane we have the finest leadership team anywhere and I am excited to watch the company grow. This also marks a milestone for RedBird IMI, in only its third year, to play such a leading role in the global entertainment stage.”
“This move signals a transformative step for Banijay Entertainment,” added Bassetti. “Together, we are entering a new chapter as a global media and entertainment powerhouse and natural consolidator, uniting first-class creative talent and leadership, standout IP, and the diversified cross-territory expertise to build and retain long-lasting franchises that span every major market and platform.
“In bridging two major studios, we are confident we can significantly increase our investment in creativity, innovation and the next generation of creators across content and live, to deliver against long-term creation and growth both for Banijay, and the broader creative economy.”
View original source — Deadline ↗


