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Stéphane Courbit says he will seek transformational M&A deals across the television and online gaming markets as part of a “new phase” for Banijay, the media business that has considered an offer for UK rival ITV.
Courbit, founder and chair of Banijay Group, did not comment on the talks with ITV, first reported by the Financial Times, but predicted that mergers and acquisitions would be happening in the sector.
He said the TV production market would be consolidated to between three and five larger companies, similar to the music or advertising industries. “Everybody’s watching, everybody is talking,” he said.
“We believe that there will be some consolidation,” said François Riahi, chief executive of Banijay Group, pointing to the need for scale in the industry to provide a range of content for large US streamers.
“The market has evolved a lot. Scale matters far more now than it used to. There are discussions all over the sector.”
French billionaire Courbit, a former TV producer, founded Banijay in 2008, growing the group rapidly, partly by buying up rival businesses.
The company went public in 2022 in Amsterdam using a special purpose acquisition vehicle backed by Vivendi and an investment group controlled by Bernard Arnault and his family.
Courbit said its stock had limited liquidity — with few investors wanting to sell — and this had impeded its share price. The company would probably issue stock to carry out M&A, he said, which would also boost the number of shares that could be freely traded.
“We’ll have more liquidity and finally the market will recognise the value of the company [and] more and more capability to make bigger deals,” said Courbit. “The consolidation is just at the beginning.”
Riahi described it as a “re-IPO” for the group. “A top priority for us is to improve the float, which means having new investors joining, and that’s something we hope we’ll be able to do,” he said.
One of the first potential deals lined up is the acquisition of a majority stake in luxury marketing group The Independents next year. Banijay Group has an option to increase its stake from 14 per cent to 51 per cent in 2026, which Riahi said was seen “positively”.
In slides shown to analysts on Friday, Banijay said it could raise €300mn-€400mn via primary issuance to take control of the group, which would add €1bn in revenues by 2028.
The Banijay Group has several divisions: Banijay Entertainment, the TV production group, events group Banijay Live — both overseen by chief executive Marco Bassetti — and Banijay Gaming, the online gambling business.
It is one of the world’s largest producers and distributors of TV, including shows such as Big Brother, Black Mirror and MasterChef, having benefited from a surge in spending by US streaming groups over the past decade.
However, the growth in budgets among the larger streaming platforms has slowed in the past two years, putting pressure on some parts of the TV production industry, while traditional linear channels are also struggling given a downturn in advertising revenues.
Courbit said he was not worried about any budget pullback, pointing out that streamers would become more selective about which programmes they chose and which companies they worked with.
Banijay will also develop live experiences and branded games based on its series and shows, with a live version of the successful Black Mirror programme expected to open in London next year.
The French company wants to bring together its different businesses where possible. For example, luxury brands — such as those represented by The Independents — increasingly want to branch out into the entertainment industry, including making programmes about their brands.
Riahi said: “We see strong synergies between The Independents, which is the most connected to all the brands [and] luxury fashion, with our set-up, which is the largest in producing content. The brands today, they want to become culture.”
Efforts to grow the group’s online gaming business would be focused on markets where it could be in the top three companies, Courbit said, in particular in Africa and South America. He ruled out any attempt to break into the US market.
On Friday, Banijay raised its guidance at a capital markets day in Paris, with revenues expected to reach about €7bn in 2028 and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of more than €1.2bn. In the first quarter of this year, revenues rose 7.8 per cent to €1bn, while adjusted Ebitda grew 16.5 per cent to €191mn.
