Banijay has been among the many most acquisitive impartial TV makers of current years, and now reportedly has its sights on ITV.
In response to the FT, the French manufacturing and distribution large has entered early stage talks to purchase the UK community. A deal would both be an outright takeover or simply for profitable manufacturing wing ITV Studios, which makes the likes of Love Island and Mr Bates Vs the Put up Workplace.
Ought to the deal materialize as a full takeover, the FT experiences that Banijay would wish to herald third-party traders.
ITV is presently price greater than £3B ($4B) after a share worth rise that adopted after it grew to become clear a deal for its studios arm was doable. A lot of that worth is utilized to ITV Studios, which some analysts recommend would fetch the same quantity by itself. This lays naked the dearth of worth patrons are attaching to the ITV community enterprise, which incorporates the flagship linear channel and streamer ITVX.
Banijay rival All3Media has been intently linked with ITV, with experiences from January suggesting that they had explored merging their manufacturing belongings. France’s TF1 Group and Formulation One proprietor CVC Capital Companions have additionally been rumored as potential suitors too.
Banijay, which was initially fashioned again in 2008, tied up one of many greatest offers of current years when it purchased Endemol Shine Group for $2.2B in 2020. That adopted the 2015 merger of Banijay Leisure and Zodiak Media Group, which created a enterprise price over $1B. TV arm Banijay Leisure is now a part of a Euronext-listed Banijay Group that features reside occasions and betting companies and has a market cap of €3.6B.
ITV Studios is comprised of a centralized manufacturing division that makes the likes of Coronation Avenue, plus a collection of manufacturing corporations akin to Rivals maker Joyful Prince, Love Island UK agency Lifted Leisure and Idiot Me As soon as producer Quay Avenue Productions. It additionally operates ITV Studios-branded manufacturing bases and different indies in 12 different nations, together with the U.S., the place ITV America is among the nation’s most prolific unscripted producers.
Banijay and ITV declined to remark.
