Banijay Entertainment chief exec also talks up growing importance of scale

Bassetti Mip TV 2019

Marco Bassetti

A Banijay acquisition of ITV Studios is not expected in the near future, after chief executive Marco Bassetti appeared to rule out the prospect on-stage at SXSW London. 

Bassetti, who was quizzed about the long-speculated M&A play during a keynote conversation with Sidemen manager Jordan Schwarzenberger, said: “We’re not buying ITV Studios, no”, before adding that he was keen to talk about broader market consolidation. 

The Banijay Entertainment chief declined to comment further when clarifying with journalists after the event, but it is understood the company has no immediate plans to acquire its super-indie peer. 

Banijay was linked with a move for ITVS in April and the company talked up its appetite for large-scale M&A during an investor presentation last month.

On broader market consolidation, Bassetti described the super-indie world as a “niche business” in which the players “keep talking to each other about how we can create more value”. 

Talking more broadly about major media M&A, Bassetti said: “We’re living in a world where consolidation and scale is really important - it wasn’t like this a few years ago. We [as an industry] were a little bit scared about scale, we didn’t want to be seen to be too big or powerful.” 

Bassetti added that groups needed “a big distribution brand” and being able to invest in pilots or content to compete, adding that Banijay is investing in cloud-based systems to better monetise its IP and finished tape. “[If you don’t have these capabilities], it’s difficult to stay in the market,” he said. 

“We also have terms of trade with the streamers that a single, small or medium-sized producer does not have. Also, for us, retaining IP is key. If you have this, you have more leverage in front of these bigger platforms. 

“If you have leverage, talent, IP and money to invest in IP, then you’re in a position [of strength]. More consolidation in our world can be beneficial for companies such as Fremantle, All3, ITV Studios, us, Lionsgate.”