€4.3bn-revenue Banijay Entertainment to be headquartered in All3’s London office
Banijay Entertainment and Red Bird IMI-owned All3Media have completed their merger, creating the largest non-US studio group in the world with annual revenues of €4.3bn (£3.7bn).
The combined company will be known as Banijay Entertainment and is to be headquartered in All3Media’s London office, with a footprint spanning 25 territories. Banijay Group and RedBird IMI will each hold a 50% stake in the group, with the deal being wrapped just three months after the two companies confirmed the merger.
RedBird IMI’s Jeff Zucker will be chairman of the combined entity, with Banijay Entertainment’s Marco Bassetti taking the chief exec role and Jane Turton named deputy chief exec.
Bassetti, who had been based out of Paris, will now work out of the London HQ alongside Turton.
Details of the senior management team have not yet been revealed but the group said a “newly devised leadership team” would be installed. The merged business will operate as per Banijay Entertainment’s “de-centralised country chief exec-driven model”.
The group’s labels and distribution will be based at Banijay UK’s West London HQ in time. Banijay Entertainment will also house a library of 265,000 hours overseen by Banijay Rights, with shows including MasterChef, The Traitors, Big Brother, Race Across the World, Survivor, Peaky Blinders, Deal or No Deal, Buccaneers and The Assassin.
Until formal integration begins, Cathy Payne’s Banijay Rights and Louise Pedersen’s All3Media International will continue to operate independently.
Banijay’s production revenues globally skew around 75%-25% in favour of unscripted, with labels ranging from Bunim/Murray Productions and 51 Minds in the US, to Endemol Shine Australia, Filmlance and Rubicon TV in the Nordics and Banijay Asia.
Its biggest country by revenue is believed to be the UK, with almost half of its 24 UK labels specialising in scripted, including Kudos (SAS Rogue Heroes, House of Guinness) and Wild Mercury (The Sixth Commandment, The Rig). Unscripted and factual include Dragonfly (Ambulance), Workerbee (The Eubanks: Like Father, Like Son), Initial (Last One Laughing UK) and Remarkable (Pointless).
All3 operates around 50 labels predominantly across the UK, the US and Germany, with hub operations in Belgium, the Netherlands and New Zealand. Around 40 are UK based, including Studio Lambert, Two Brothers Pictures and Lion. Around a third of the labels produce scripted shows, with the remainder largely focused on entertainment, factual entertainment and factual programming.
Even without joining forces, both superindies outnumber their closest rivals in terms of UK label numbers, with ITV Studios housing around 20 UK indies, Fremantle UK housing 11 and BBC Studios fully owning nine UK labels.
Unveiling completion of the deal, the companies pointed to Little Dot Studios’ “digital expertise”, alongside the live and immersive capabilities of both Banijay Live and All3Media, as being key to driving revenues “across landscapes” and bolstering the companies “track record in franchise building, creating new revenue streams, and deepening global reach.”
The deal, which was rumoured late last year before being confirmed in March, creates a company whose combined adjusted EBITDA would have topped €700m in 2025. It comes two years since Redbird IMI acquired All3Media for £1.15bn, with the merged entity now set to sit within the broader Banijay Group, which also houses gaming firm Betclic.
Zucker said the completion of the merger “marks a new era in global entertainment and creates a new independent leader in that category.”
The former CNN exec added: “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.”
Bassetti labelled the deal as a “transformative step” for Banijay Entertainment.
“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 longterm creation and growth both for Banijay, and the broader creative economy.”
Turton added: “Leading All3Media has been a huge pleasure and privilege, and I have many people to thank – all of whose contribution has been immense in building something incredibly successful and highly respected.
“With the completion of the merger of All3Media and Banijay Entertainment, we move to a next phase – one that is incredibly exciting. I am proud to be joining forces with Marco and the new team at a time when there is a huge appetite for brilliant shows developed and produced by world-class talent. Add to that the strength of a global distributor, a market leading digital studio and a growing live events business and the opportunity multiplies many times over.”
François Riahi, chief exec of Banijay Group, concluded: “This merger marks a defining milestone in Banijay Group’s history.
“Banijay Entertainment and All3Media are highly complementary businesses with exceptional creative assets and global ambition. We are delighted to partner with RedBird IMI for the next phase of development of Banijay Entertainment, to make together Banijay Entertainment the winning global leader of the content industry, both on and off the screens.”
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