Fiction
A small cheque, firm control: Bodhi Tree tightens its grip on content creation
MUMBAI: Bodhi Tree Multimedia’s move to acquire a 50.01% stake in Moving Image Studios may have slipped under the radar when it was cleared late last year, but the logic behind it is anything but modest. For Rs 7 crore in cash, the content producer has secured operational control of a young media studio, signalling a deliberate push towards tighter ownership and faster execution in a crowded entertainment market.
The board cleared the transaction on December 31, 2025, approving the acquisition of a controlling interest in Moving Image Studios Private Limited (MISPL) through a Share Purchase and Share Subscription Agreement (SPSSA). The agreement, executed on December 24 and formally received a week later, hands Bodhi Tree majority control while keeping the structure clean and regulator free.
The deal combines immediacy with optionality. Alongside the upfront acquisition, Bodhi Tree has committed an additional Rs 6 crore via convertible instruments, leaving room for future expansion without overextending capital at the outset. The consideration is entirely in cash, and the transaction is neither a related party deal nor subject to regulatory approvals.
Moving Image Studios, incorporated in April 2024 and based in Mumbai’s Bandra West, is a fledgling but focused player in the media and entertainment space. Its youth appears to be part of the appeal. By stepping in early, Bodhi Tree gains decisive leadership control, with 50.01% being just enough, while preserving governance safeguards and information rights for minority shareholders.
Control, rather than scale, appears to be the point. The acquisition brings MISPL onto Bodhi Tree’s consolidated books, reinforcing a strategy that favours ownership clarity over loose partnerships. In an industry where delays are costly and accountability often diffused, majority control offers speed.
The approval came during a one hour board meeting on December 31, chaired by managing director Mautik Ajit Tolia, who also signed off on the regulatory filing. The company remains focused on content production across television, films and digital platforms, where competition is intensifying and margins depend as much on execution as ideas.
Bodhi Tree’s stock performance has been uneven in the short term, down over the past year, but the long view tells a different story, with five year returns exceeding 550%. This acquisition, modest in size yet firm in intent, fits that longer arc, disciplined capital, early control and a bet on content that can be shaped, not merely commissioned.
In an industry addicted to splashy announcements, Bodhi Tree’s quiet consolidation may prove the more durable play.
Fiction
Banijay merges with All3Media in $6.65 billion deal
Marco Bassetti will lead the combined company as CEO
PARIS: Six years after acquiring Endemol Shine at the height of the pandemic, Banijay has struck again. The European production heavyweight is merging with All3Media in a deal that will create a television titan with $6.65 billion in revenue and redraw the contours of a fast-consolidating market.
The combined company will trade under the Banijay name and be owned 50 per cent each by Banijay Group and RedBird IMI, which acquired All3Media in 2024. The transaction is expected to close by autumn, subject to regulatory approvals.
Banijay Entertainment CEO Marco Bassetti, will take the top job at the enlarged group. All3Media CEO Jane Turton becomes deputy CEO. RedBird IMI CEO Jeff Zucker will serve as chairman.
The logic is scale. Broadcasters are commissioning less, streamers are tightening budgets and global buyers are fewer but bigger. Against that backdrop, heft matters. The merged entity will generate roughly $6.65 billion in revenues based on 2024 figures, giving it sharper elbows in rights negotiations and deeper pockets for franchise-building.
“Entrepreneurialism, ambition and creativity” remain core to Banijay’s DNA, Bassetti said, flagging plans to invest more heavily in new intellectual property, live events and emerging platforms. Turton struck a similarly bullish note, pointing to All3Media’s journey from a 2003 start-up to a global supplier of hit formats and high-end drama.
Between them, the two groups control a formidable slate. Banijay’s catalogue spans MasterChef, Big Brother, Survivor, Black Mirror, Peaky Blinders and Deal or No Deal. All3Media’s labels include Studio Lambert, producer of The Traitors and Squid Game: The Challenge; Two Brothers, behind The Tourist; and Neal Street, currently producing the forthcoming Beatles biopics directed by Sam Mendes for Sony.
The back catalogue is equally muscular. Banijay Rights holds some 220,000 hours, while All3Media International adds around 35,000 hours, forming one of the industry’s largest libraries.
Banijay, controlled by French entrepreneur Stéphane Courbit and listed in Amsterdam, counts more than 130 production companies across 25 territories. All3Media operates over 40 labels, with strong positions in the UK, US and Germany. The enlarged group will also lean into live entertainment, building on Banijay’s Balich Wonder Studio, which produced the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, and the Independents.
The deal marks a shift in tone. As recently as October, Bassetti suggested that mergers and acquisitions were not a priority. But the drumbeat of consolidation has grown louder. Mediawan has moved for Peter Chernin’s North Road. David Ellison’s Paramount has agreed to a $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros, with plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount plus. ITV has explored selling its media and entertainment arm to Comcast-owned Sky, though talks have reportedly slowed.
