Banijay Entertainment, the production and distribution giant, which now includes All3Media, is looking to expand into the highly competitive US scripted space, having recently gained huge financial firepower through a merger.
Speaking in conversation with Chairman Jeff Zucker DiversityBanijay CEO Marco Bassetti, co-editor-in-chief of Mipcom Cannes, said he sees an opportunity for the company to expand its presence in scripted production, where it is already active with films and series such as “Hamnet” and “Peaky Blinders.”
“We are almost in Europe, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, India and Israel. Let’s see what the future holds in the US as well, because we have never touched this business,” Bassetti said. “We saw some of our competitors go there, not really succeed and then back out.”
He added, “We need to go there with the right people, the right IP, and we need to invest in the US. It’s a very different business than the norm in Europe.”
Zucker agreed. “It’s something we’ll look at in the coming years. We have incredibly good capital now,” he said. “We have the number one movie on Amazon, the number one show on Netflix and Apple, and new titles coming. I think the scripted strength is already there. And given our new capacity, our new capitalization, I think there’s a new opportunity for us in the U.S. scripted space.”
Just two months ago, Banijay Entertainment and Redbird IMI officially completed the $8 billion acquisition of All3Media, which is headquartered in London, UK. The deal sees All3Media CEO Jane Turton take on the role of deputy CEO of the combined company, which boasts more than 265,000 hours of content and some of television’s most recognizable franchises.
The merger brought together two of Europe’s largest production groups, with operations spanning scripted and unscripted television, film and distribution, ultimately giving them a larger footprint in English-language production.
Bassetti argued that the company’s scale represents an increasingly valuable asset for streamers.
“For the platform, having a solid company behind the production means knowing that we can deliver on screen the quality we’re promising,” Bassetti said. “Sometimes, for small and medium-sized companies, it is difficult. We can move forward and put more effort into making a project successful.”
While the company is best known for its unscripted IP, thanks to “super brands” such as “The Traitors,” “Big Brother” and “MasterChef,” Bassetti said the merger also creates opportunities to capitalize on these franchises across the group’s international operations.
Bassetti said, “Had we been together earlier, we would have had the opportunity to produce ‘The Traitors’ across all of our territories and create more value for that IP within the group.”
“We’re operating in 25 countries, so when we have an IP, we have the opportunity to produce it in 25 countries. There are definitely more opportunities in that sense. That’s the beauty of having such a large footprint around the world and such strong production companies,” he said.
Bassetti also pointed to the group’s growing business producing localized versions of formats for streaming platforms, including Amazon’s “LoL,” which Banijay produces in about 13 territories, Netflix’s “Physical: The 100” in five and “Love Is Blind” in seven or eight.
Although producing shows for hire is not Banijay’s core business, Bassetti said it is another area the group is looking to develop.
Asked about potential M&A opportunities in the US, Zucker stressed that “Banijay doesn’t need anything and is open to any great idea.”
“That’s the beauty of having shareholders who are so well positioned, who have such good capital and who are so ambitious. We will look opportunistic and continue to move forward,” Zucker said. “But the reality is that we don’t have to do anything either, and there’s no one out there that we think we have to do.”
Banijay was recently mentioned as one of the European companies to keep an eye on Lionsgate. No executive paid any attention to those rumors.
Zucker also raised the possibility of closer relationships between Banijay and other businesses in Redbird IMI’s portfolio, which will continue to operate separately.
“We have a lot of companies in our portfolio that are very complementary to the work of Banijay. I think you’ll see opportunities for us to work together and come together in different ways over the next few years,” he said.
Asked if this could include an acquisition, Zucker said, “Certainly collaboration is easy. And whether there are other opportunities in M&A, everything will be on the table.”
Moving forward, Zucker and Bassetti said they will continue to build the company as a comprehensive entertainment group rather than just a production banner, with plans to invest in live entertainment, digital and sports.
“Our core business will remain the same: creating new IP and investing in our own talent and IP. But we also want to invest in live, digital and sports,” Bassetti said. “That’s our strategy, and we want to move in that direction.”
Bassetti said that the company’s growing scale and financial resources now put it in a position to compete with some of the major Hollywood studios.
He said, “I believe we can now consider ourselves not just a production company, but an entertainment company.” “And I think we can be compared to some of the big European and American studios. Not just companies like Fremantle or MediaOne anymore. I think we have nothing to envy to Sony, Lionsgate and others. And that’s our ambition.”