Banijay is set to acquire Australian producer and distributor Beyond International.
The deal will add more than 8,000 hours of IP to Banijay’s existing catalogue of over 130,000 hours of content.
In English-language markets, Beyond Productions’ titles include eight-part scripted series Troppo, co-produced with EQ Media, airing on Freevee USA and ABC Australia.
Beyond’s sales arm, Beyond Rights, represents titles including Highway Thru Hell, Heavy Rescue: 401, Massive Engineering Mistakes, Halifax: Retribution, MythBusters and Deadly Women.
The deal is Banijay’s biggest since it acquired Endemol Shine Group in 2020, having previously merged with Zodiak Media in 2016.
“As content demand continues to soar, catalogue remains key, and in acquiring Beyond, we would take our offering up considerably,” Banijay CEO Marco Bassetti said in a statement.
Beyond has been listed on the Australian Securities Exchange since 1987, but once the deal is implemented, it will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Banijay and its shares will cease to be publicly traded.
Beyond International’s managing director and CEO Mikael Borglund remains in post. Banijay hopes the deal will close at the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023.
In the meantime, Banijay is poised for a larger-than-life presence at the upcoming Mipcom. Bassetti will give a Media Mastermind keynote at the market and the company plans to send more than 200 global talent to Cannes for the event.
Banijay is the world’s largest independent content producer and distributor and was originally founded in France by Stephane Courbit in 2008. The company has a presence in 22 territories, and has over 120 production labels and a catalogue that includes Peaky Blinders, Big Brother and MasterChef, as well as upcoming titles Rogue Heroes, Blow Up, Starstruck and Marie Antoinette.
No comments yet