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Banijay Group in 50:50 JV with Deepak Dhar for India ops
MUMBAI: French content powerhouse Banijay Group is setting up its operations for India and South East Asia in partnership with former Endemol India managing director Deepak Dhar.
Dhar will hold 50 per cent equity in Banijay Asia as its founder-CEO for South East Asia operations. He will head the new business, leading content strategies, partnerships and alliances across the region, with a central focus on India. He stepped down as managing director of Endemol Shine India in December last year having previously held key positions at Star TV, Channel V and MTV.
The new JV, Banijay Asia, will produce content across multiple genres, including digital and films for India and South East Asia. Dhar will lead business, content strategies, partnerships and alliances in the region, with India being central focus.
“Creating innovative and engaging content has been a passion for me, and I am always on a lookout for challenging opportunities,” Dhar said in a statement. “Creating a strong foundation in Southeast Asia is the next crucial step for [Banijay Group] and I am excited to be helming this move.”
Banijay is an independent content creation group for television and multimedia platforms. Spread across entities in seventeen territories, its library includes programming spanning genres like entertainment, drama, factual entertainment, kids and reality; all licensed internationally by its global distribution arm Banijay Rights. Some notable formats include reality television series Keeping up with the Kardashians, crime drama series Underbelly and ABC’s reality television program Wife Swap.
Banijay Group COO Peter Langenberg said, “This is an extremely significant partnership for us as we continue to build our presence in India and South-East Asia, one of the most dynamic and burgeoning regions in the world. We are very excited about the wide-ranging opportunities Deepak’s experience and expertise will bring to the group.”
“After my last role at Endemol, I was looking for an opportunity that could satiate my passion to create innovative and engaging content, while at the same time, have the potential to scale at multiple levels. This partnership with Banijay Group matches perfectly with what I was seeking,” Dhar said.
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Deepak Dhar bids adieu to Endemol after a decade
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.
