Banijay picks London as new HQ for TV maker after $8bn merger
UK base for production group behind ‘The Traitors’ is another boost to country’s creative sector
The world’s largest independent TV maker has picked the UK for its new headquarters, following the $8bn merger of Paris-based Banijay Entertainment and All3Media, which is owned by RedBird IMI.
A London base for the production group behind shows such as Peaky Blinders, MasterChef and The Traitors will be another boost to the UK’s creative sector — after this week’s deal by Sky to buy the broadcasting unit of ITV included plans to spin off the studios division into its own London-listed business.
“London is the capital of the [entertainment] business,” said Marco Bassetti, chief executive of Banijay Entertainment who will remain the boss of the combined group, referencing the future ITV Studios spin-off. “The big streamers have a big office here for running Europe, and the UK for us is part of Europe.”
New York-based RedBird IMI — which last year attempted to buy the Telegraph newspaper — and Banijay are partners in the new business, which spans 25 countries, with the board equally split between the two.
The two owners on Thursday confirmed the completion of the deal and the full details of the new company, which will be the world’s largest independent TV maker, encompassing more than 170 production and live-events companies.
On a combined basis, Banijay Entertainment would have generated more than €4.3bn in revenues and more than €700mn in adjusted earnings in 2025, with cost savings of €50mn expected to be achieved within a year of the deal.
Former CNN boss Jeff Zucker, who runs Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI, the investment partnership that bought All3Media in 2024, said that the merger would create “a truly global media and entertainment powerhouse” that will “produce premium content, live events, digital content unlike anyone else”.
Zucker will serve as chair and All3Media boss Jane Turton will become deputy CEO.
The combination of the two groups reflects the wider consolidation across the entertainment world, where deals such as Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery in the US and the merger of Sky and ITV’s television business in the UK are set to create new industry giants.
“We are at a time of tremendous change and consolidation and opportunity in the media space, and that’s why we felt that this was both necessary and opportunistic,” said Zucker. “You have to have more scale in the new world, and you can’t just get there with three or four smaller acquisitions.”
He added that “there’s going to be further opportunities to come, and the ability to grow across content production, both scripted and unscripted, live events and experiences in digital and in sports”.
Zucker did not rule out a potential listing of the entertainment company in future, saying that the company would go through the integrated process before deciding “whether we think that the public markets may be an opportunity as well . . . let’s see what happens”.
One option would be to list the business in New York once the integration is complete, according to a person familiar with the matter. A Banijay spokesperson said that “we just closed the merger today so are yet to explore anything, but we will not exclude any option to give the company the best tools and positioning to win”.
Bassetti said that the merger would bring new opportunities to exploit and build out its existing content portfolio, taking older franchises into new territories and developing live events around popular shows, as well as developing new programmes.
He said that the group had more than 260,000 hours of content in its catalogue, a “significant direct-to-consumer business” and a roster of live shows. The company also produces live events for others, including the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan and the World Cup.