Banijay has been among the most acquisition-hungry independent TV producers in recent years, and has now reportedly set his sights on ITV.
According to the Financial Times, the French manufacturing and distribution giant has started early negotiations to buy the British broadcaster. A deal could either be a complete acquisition or only apply to the profitable production division ITV Studios, which is behind successes such as Love Island and Mr Bates Vs the Post Office.
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If the acquisition goes through, the FT reports that Banijay will have to bring in external investors.
ITV is currently valued at over £3 billion ($4 billion) following a share price surge that followed when it became clear that a deal for the production division was possible. Much of this value is tied to ITV Studios, which according to some analysts could be worth about the same amount on its own. This underlines how little value buyers attribute to ITV’s broadcasting business, which includes the main channel and streaming service ITVX.
Banijay’s rival All3Media has also been linked to ITV, with reports from January suggesting that it has considered merging its production business. France’s TF1 Group and Formula 1 owner CVC Capital Partners have also been mentioned as potential buyers.
Banijay, which was founded in 2008, was behind one of the largest acquisitions in recent years when it acquired Endemol Shine Group for $2.2 billion in 2020. This followed the merger of Banijay Entertainment and Zodiak Media Group in 2015, which created a business worth over $1 billion. The TV division Banijay Entertainment is now part of the Banijay Group, which is listed on Euronext and includes live events and gaming companies, with a market capitalization of €3.6 billion.
ITV Studios consists of a central production department that creates Coronation Street, as well as a number of production companies such as Happy Prince (Rivals), Lifted Entertainment (Love Island UK) and Quay Street Productions (Fool Me Once). They also have ITV Studios-branded production units and other independent companies in 12 other countries, including the United States, where ITV America is one of the country’s most prolific producers of non-scripted content.
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Banijay declined to comment, while ITV had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
