Fiction
Trump bought Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery bonds days after megadeal
WASHINGTON DC: Donald Trump quietly placed a bet on Hollywood’s balance sheet. Financial disclosures released by the White House showed the president bought corporate bonds issued by Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery in the days following the announcement of their $83bn megadeal.
The filing, dated January 14, listed purchases of debt securities worth up to $1m in each company, though exact figures were disclosed only in ranges. Trump acquired two tranches of Netflix bonds, each valued between $250,001 and $500,000, on December 12 and December 16. The bonds were set to mature in November 2029.
The disclosure also showed purchases of bonds issued by Discovery Communications LLC, a Warner Bros Discovery subsidiary, in identical ranges on the same dates. Those securities mature in 2030.
The transactions formed part of a wider burst of activity. The White House filing detailed dozens of trades with a combined value well above $100m, dominated by municipal bonds but also including corporate debt from companies such as General Motors, Boeing, Macy’s and Victoria’s Secret. Trump also picked up a similar volume of bonds issued by SiriusXM.
A White House official said the investments were designed to mirror established indices and were managed independently. Neither Trump nor his family had any role in directing trades or timing, the official said.
The timing was striking. The bond purchases began barely a week after Netflix unveiled its agreement to buy Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that was already facing regulatory scrutiny and an aggressive counter-move from David Ellison’s Paramount, which was pursuing a hostile tender offer and had floated a proxy fight.
Any merger would require US regulatory approval, and Trump had said publicly that he expected to weigh in, with the justice department likely to lead any challenge. He met Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos shortly before the deal was announced, later calling him “a fantastic man”, even as he reposted a sharply critical article titled *Stop the Netflix cultural takeover*.
Sarandos later played down the repost, saying he was unsure why it appeared and cautioning against overreading it.
For now, the politics were combustible, the regulators alert and the market watching closely. Trump’s money, at least, was already in the game.
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.
