Banijay pulls out of race for All3Media -sources

Liberty Global

07/12/2023 18:39

By Amy-Jo Crowley and Paul Sandle
       LONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Banijay, the French TV
production group owned by FL Entertainment  FLE.AS , has pulled
out of talks to buy British rival All3Media, said three people
with knowledge of the matter.
    All3Media's joint owners, Liberty Global  LBTYA.O  and
Warner Bros Discovery  WBD.O , are instead pursuing a deal with
another buyer with the hopes of agreeing a deal by Christmas,
one of the people said. The identity of this bidder could not be
learned by Reuters. 
    Bidders submitted binding offers for the "Fleabag" and "The
Traitors" maker last month, with the owners seeking a price of
around 1.3 billion pounds ($1.64 billion), Reuters reported last
month. 
    But Banijay, which makes "Big Brother", "Survivor" and
"Black Mirror", dropped out earlier this week after it did not
meet the seller's price expectations, two of the people said,
speaking on condition of anonymity. 
    Spokespeople for Banijay, Liberty Global and Warner Bros.
declined to comment.  
    A tough ad market and hefty losses at streamers has dampened
appetite for content and pushed valuations for some production
companies down.
    British broadcaster and production company ITV  ITV.L  was
in talks to buy All3Media earlier in the year but said in July
it was no longer "actively exploring" a deal. It said it would
continue to "monitor" the situation. 
        Peter Chernin's North Road Company also withdrew from
the auction after submitting a bid, Reuters reported last month.
 
    Warner Bros Discovery and Liberty Global bought All3Media in
2014 for an enterprise value of about 550 million pounds.


($1 = 0.7935 pounds)

 (Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley and Paul Sandle. Editing by
Anousha Sakoui, Kirsten Donovan)
 ((paul.sandle@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 6843; Reuters
Messaging: paul.sandle.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))