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) have struck a deal with an enterprise value of $8 billion to merge their production businesses, creating a new industry juggernaut.
All3Media is owned by the joint investment partnership between Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird and IMI Media, led by RedBird operating partner and RedBird IMI CEO Jeff Zucker. All3Media is led by CEO Jane Turton. Banijay’s leader is Marco Bassetti, who will be the CEO of the merged firm. In the deal unveiled March 3, each company will hold a 50 percent stake in the combined firm. Zucker will be chairman of the board of the merged company. The companies expect the deal to close in the fall of this year.
“When we formed RedBird IMI three years ago, we dreamed of creating a world class, diversified entertainment company that reaches global audiences across scripted and unscripted programming, live events and digital,” Zucker said. “With this combination of Banijay Entertainment and All3Media, we have realized that goal, and are thrilled to partner with the entire Banijay team.”
Both companies are considered super-indies. Given the industry-wide rush to expand scale and reduce costs, both have been understood to have in the past considered possibly buying ITV’s studio division.
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 today’s 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.
“This transaction represents a decisive step in Banijay Group’s strategy to reinforce its leading position in global entertainment,” stated François Riahi, CEO of Banijay Group. “Banijay Entertainment and All3Media are highly complementary platforms with exceptional creative assets and global ambition. In all our businesses, we are leading consolidation, and this transaction is another demonstration of this in content production, just as the acquisition of Tipico announced recently in sports betting and online gaming.”
Bassetti highlighted the benefits of scale last summer. “We are living in a world where consolidation and scale are really important,” he said, sharing that a few years ago, the firm had been afraid to be seen as “too big, too powerful.” But now, more consolidation is beneficial to industry players that need hit content, intellectual property, and production budgets in line with audiences’ expectations, he concluded.
Zucker, the former president of CNN and CEO of NBCUniversal, has emphasized that the investment company he now works for focuses on the core idea that “intellectual property and quality content, whether it’s entertainment or news and information, will succeed in the long run with the proper eventual amount of capital and patience.” So, instead of cost-cutting and “having to just manage decline,” his team was focusing on investing, building, and growing.
To that end, RedBird IMI had acquired All3Media in 2024 for $1.45 billion. Now it is building on that asset.
