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EC approves Zodiak, Banijay merger

The European Commission (EC) has approved the merger between Zodiak Media and Banijay Group.

Banijay's Stéphane Courbit

Banijay’s Stéphane Courbit

The deal for a joint venture – set up by Lov Group Invest SAS and De Agostini – was given the greenlight this week.

It means that the merger of the pair’s operations has been given full approval, as has French media giant Vivendi’s acquisition of a 26.2% stake in the new business for €290m (US$311m).

In a statement, the EC said: “The commission concluded that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns, because the activities of Banijay and Zodiak overlap only to a limited extent.

“Moreover, a number of alternative suppliers of TV content will remain active in the markets after the transaction and customers can switch suppliers relatively easy.”

The merger of Zodiak and Banijay was confirmed last July, with Zodiak Media CEO Marc-Antoine d’Halluin exiting the company as a result.

The new group will have a footprint in more than 18 territories, producing entertainment, drama, factual, reality entertainment, docudrama, children’s and animation.

Banijay chairman Stéphane Courbit and CEO Marco Bassetti are taking over the combined business, which will have total revenues of US$1bn, according to Banijay.

The deal came in the wake of Endemol, Shine Group and Core Media merging and Discovery and Liberty Global acquiring All3Media.

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