<\/p>\n
By Leo Marchandon<\/p>\n
March 3 (Reuters) \u2013 Banijay Group and All3Media, owned by investment firm RedBird IMI, have agreed to merge their entertainment production businesses to create one of Europe\u2019s largest multimedia \u200bproduction groups, the companies said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Banijay is the producer \u200cof TV drama \u201cPeaky Blinders\u201d and the \u201cBig Brother\u201d franchise, while All3Media\u2019s productions include \u201cThe Traitors\u201d and \u201cSquid Game: The Challenge\u201d.<\/p>\n
The combined entity would have generated 2024 combined pro forma revenues exceeding 4.4 billion euros, the companies said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this industry, size matters enormously, and with \u200cthe \u200bdevelopment of artificial intelligence, the ownership and exploitation \u2060of intellectual property are \u2060becoming an even more crucial factor\u201d, Banijay CEO Fran\u00e7ois Riahi said in a press call to explain the merger\u2019s rationale.<\/p>\n
The deal would strengthen Banijay\u2019s leading position in global content, he said, and would \u200bkeep it well positioned as the streaming market consolidated, led by Warner Bros Discovery agreeing to be acquired by Paramount Skydance last \u2060month.<\/p>\n
\u201cScale is a very important factor for \u2060growth,\u201d he said, noting that Paramount winning the race to \u200bbuy Warner Bros was a good outcome for Banijay because it would \u200bcreate a powerful competitor to Netflix.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were already the \u200cnumber one provider for global streaming platforms, but the streamers are growing and we are also growing with this deal, and we remain very relevant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Leo Marchandon in Gdansk and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Susan Fenton \u200band Nick Zieminski)<\/p>\n