EuropaCorp sells French TV arm

EuropaCorp TV’s French-Canada coproduction Transporter

Luc Besson-backed prodco EuropaCorp has sold its French TV division as it attempts to rebound following a series of film flops and the departure of its CEO.

EuropaCorp, which lost chief Marc Shmuger on November 10, saw its big-budget movie Valerian & the City of a Thousand Planets fail to attract movie-goers on its debut in August.

EuropaCorp Television’s MD Thomas Anargyros has now acquired the French-language TV operation, including TF1’s thriller No Limit and Taxi Brooklyn, which aired on NBC in the US, for €11m (US$13m).

The Paris-based TV arm was founded in 2010 and was also behind the troubled Transporter series.

The deal does not include EuropaCorp’s US-based TV operation, which was launched in 2014 by Dirty Sexy Money producer Matthew Gross, after the firm secured a US$450m credit facility to invest in English-language shows.

The division is behind the TV adaptation of the movie Taken, which was extended into a second season by NBC earlier this year.

However, its movie division has proven less successful over the past year, with Valerian joining flicks such as Shut In in failing to make the expected returns.

Anargyros has been with EuropaCorp since 2010, when the company acquired his prodco Cipango, launched with Edouard de Vesinne. The latter became deputy CEO at EuropaCorp following the takeover but left earlier this year.

The French TV division’s sale is expected to save EuropaCorp around US$3.5m a year and comes after the prodco posted a US$135m loss for the past financial year. Besson’s firm is known on the international film circuit for movies such as Taken 2 and I Love You Phillip Morris.