Fiction
Banijay finalises pricing of notes offering for Endemol Shine acquisition
MUMBAI: The Banijay Group has announced the successful pricing of a notes offering as part of a €2.378 billion (equivalent) financing through Banijay, Banijay Entertainment S.A.S. and Banijay Group US Holding, Inc.
The financing package comprises:
– €575 million senior secured notes due 2025, which priced at par and have a coupon of 3.500 per cent per annum (the “Euro Senior Secured Notes”);
– $403 million senior secured notes due 2025, which priced at par and have a coupon of 5.375 per cent per annum (the “Dollar Senior Secured Notes”);
– €400 million senior notes due 2026, which priced at par and have a coupon of 6.500 per cent per annum (the “Senior Notes” and together with the Euro Senior Secured Notes and Dollar Senior Secured Notes, the “Notes”);
– €453 million term loan B facility, which bears interest at a rate of EURIBOR plus 3.75 per cent per annum, with a customary margin ratchet mechanism with a 0.0 per cent EURIBOR floor (the “EUR Term Loan B”);
– $460 million term loan B facility, which bears interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 3.75 per cent per annum, with a 0.0 per cent LIBOR floor (together with the EUR Term Loan B, the “Senior Facilities”); and
– €170 million (equivalent) multicurrency Revolving Credit Facility, of which €75 million (equivalent) would be available prior to the closing of the acquisition of the Endemol Shine group (the “Endemol Shine Acquisition”).
The proceeds of the financing will be used in a two-step financing transaction.
On the date of issuance of the Notes, the proceeds of the Euro Senior Secured Notes will be used to redeem Banijay’s existing senior secured notes due 2022, repay in full Banijay’s existing senior credit facilities, refinance the consideration payable for the previously announced acquisition of The Natural Studios Limited, fund cash on balance sheet, which is intended to be used as part of the financing of the Endemol Shine Acquisition, and pay fees and expenses in connection with the refinancing.
On the date of completion of the Endemol Shine Acquisition, the proceeds of the Dollar Senior Secured Notes and the Senior Notes, together with equity contributed by certain of Banijay’s shareholders, amounts drawn under the Senior Facilities and the portion of the cash proceeds of the offering of the Euro Senior Secured Notes remaining on balance sheet, to acquire the Endemol Shine group, refinance certain existing indebtedness of the Endemol Shine group and pay the fees and expenses incurred in connection with the transactions.
The closing of the sale of the Notes is scheduled to be completed on 11 February 2020, and is subject to customary conditions. The consummation of the Endemol Shine Acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including clearance by the antitrust authorities.
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.
