Banijay chair Jeff Zucker and CEO Marco Bassetti discussed their strategy post-merger with Variety's co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton at Mipcom Cannes. Banijay Entertainment, the production and distribution behemoth that now encompasses All3Media, is considering an expansion into the highly competitive U.S. scripted space, having gained major financial firepower through the recent merger. Speaking alongside chair Jeff Zucker in a conversation with Variety’s co-editor-in-chief at Mipcom Cannes, Banijay CEO Marco Bassetti said he saw an opportunity for the company to grow its presence in scripted production, where it’s already active with films and series such as “Hamnet” and “Peaky Blinders.” “We are pretty much in Europe, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, India and Israel.
Let’s see what the future holds in the U.S. as well, because we have never touched this business,” said Bassetti. It’s quite different from the scripted business in Europe,” he continued. We are incredibly well capitalized now,” he said.
I think the scripted strength is already there. And given our new ability together, our new capitalization, I think the U.S. is a new opportunity for us in the scripted space.” It was only two months ago that Banijay Entertainment and RedBird IMI officially completed the $8 billion acquisition of All3Media, which is headquartered in London, U.K. The deal saw All3Media CEO Jane Turton take on the role of deputy CEO of the combined company, which boasts over 265,000 hours of content and some of television’s most recognizable franchises.
The merger has brought together two of Europe’s largest production groups, with operations spanning scripted and unscripted television, film and distribution, and ultimately gave them a bigger footprint in English-language production. Bassetti argued that the company’s scale represented an increasingly valuable asset for streamers. We can go further and do more to make a project successful.” While the company is best known for its unscripted IP, thanks to “super brands” like “The Traitors,” “Big Brother” and “MasterChef,” Bassetti said the merger also creates opportunities to capitalize on these franchises across the group’s international operations.
There’s definitely more opportunity in that sense. That’s the beauty of having such a large footprint and such strong production companies around the world,” he said. Bassetti also pointed to the group’s growing business producing local versions of formats for streaming platforms, including Amazon’s “LOL,” which Banijay produces in around 13 territories, Netflix’s “Physical: 100” in five and “Love Is Blind” in seven or eight.
Although producing shows for hire isn’t necessarily Banijay’s core business, Bassetti said it was another area the group was looking to develop. Asked about potential M&A opportunities in the U.S., Zucker stressed that “Banijay doesn’t need anything and is open to any great ideas.” “That’s the beauty of having shareholders who are so well positioned, so well capitalized and so ambitious. We’ll look to be opportunistic and we’ll look to continue to grow,” Zucker said.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
.jpg)
