Banijay shares rise nearly 6% on All3Media merger deal

March 4 - Shares in Banijay Group BNJ.AS rose nearly 6% on Wednesday after the French entertainment firm announced a deal late Tuesday to merge its production operations with All3Media, owned by investment firm RedBird IMI.

The transaction, which is expected to close by fall 2026, aims to establish one of Europe's largest multimedia production groups, managing franchises such as "Peaky Blinders", "Big Brother", "The Traitors", and "MasterChef", as the companies seek to scale their operations against competition from streaming giants.

• Both parties will hold 50% of the combined entity, which will retain the Banijay name

• All3Media owner RedBird IMI will roll-over its entire stake in All3Media into the new combined entity

• "The financial impact would be significant", a Deutsche Bank analyst said in a note

• The combined entity is projected to generate pro forma revenues exceeding 4.4 billion euros ($5.1 billion) and an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of 690 million euros for 2024

• According to Deutsche Bank, the deal would lift Banijay Group's total pro forma revenues for 2024 to 7.4 billion euros, representing a 16% increase, while pushing its adjusted EBITDA up 9% to 1.5 billion euro

($1 = 0.8596 euros)