Production giant reveals growth strategy at Capital Markets Day and is no longer looking for indie label acquisitions
MasterChef and Peaky Blinders producer Banijay Entertainment has laid out its ambition to deliver large-scale M&A rather than label-based deals, fuelling industry speculation about a deal with ITV Studios.
François Riahi, chief exec of Banijay Entertaiment parent Banijay Group, told investors at a Capital Markets Day this morning that consolidation across the industry will increase as its customers shift from being national broadcasters to international streamers.
“Today, and even more tomorrow, our clients are global giants like Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Google, so there is a real advantage to being the biggest player to better serve these clients, and also to be able to resist them.”
Riahi said Banijay Entertainment’s focus would be on large-scale M&A deals where revenue and cost synergies could be found, although there was no specific comment on reports from April that linked the group with an acquisition of ITV.
“We are not looking anymore at buying small production companies to expand our capablities as we have in the past. We have the right set-up to produce any type of format in any geography we want to already,” he said.
Riahi said IP acquisitions, such as Banijay’s deal to pick up all rights to Peaky Blinders from Caryn Mandabach Productions in 2024, would be considered, but added that the “big topic for us is large consolidation.”
He added: “We are very keen to look at large consolidation if the opportunity occurs, this would come with significant cost and revenue synergies that we can extract because we’ve done it in the past,” reflecting on the deal for EndemolShine Group in 2020.
During a Q&A session following the main presentation, Riahi said that Banijay is “a production and content company” with an M&A strategy to match.
“We are not specifically looking at acquiring broadcasters, but we always have an open mind on how to best address our strategy and goals,” he said. The super-indie group has been linked with a potential takeover of both ITV Studios and the wider ITV plc group.
Streamers & sports to get greater focus
News of Banijay’s renewed focus on large-scale M&A followed its Q1 results, which saw its 2025 revenues rise by 4.7% year on year.
Scripted series such as U&Drama’s Bergerac, Netflix thriller El Jardinero (The Gardener) and Antena 3’s Sueños de Libertad were picked out as highlights, with the series and the group’s “superbrands” fuelling growth, with Q1 production revenue up from €541m in 2024 to €568m this year.
Distribution revenues rose from €60.5m in 2024 to €64.4m, with the Entertainment arm’s live event unit seeing revenues fall from €78m in 2024 to €70.5m.
Adjusted EBITDA within Banijay Entertainment and Banijay Live are not broken out but stood at €90m cumulatively, up 12% from Q1 2024.
Banijay Entertainment chief executive Marco Bassetti said a four-pronged plan will drive ongoing growth, including renewed focus on increasing revenue from streamers.
Bassetti said there would be a “doubling-down” on English-language content to achieve this, with ambitions to secure 30% of revenues from streamers by 2028, up from 22% in 2024.
The group is also looking to expand its social media and AVOD positioning with greater activity on YouTube, while leveraging its IP to create more experiential entertainment opportunities.
Bassetti added that there will also be a renewed focus on sports programming, building on the launch of its Banijay Sports division in 2023 which has spawned factual content on stars such as F1 driver Max Verstappen and footballer Sergio Ramos.
The company is monitoring the potential impacts of US tariffs but pointed to the existence of Banijay Americas as a mitigating factor.
Bassetti added that the “main issue” he saw would be between Canada and the US, which will not represent a risk for Banijay Entertainment.
No comments yet