Mediawan completes Lagardère deal

Paris-based independent media group Mediawan has completed the acquisition of Lagardère Studios as part of its plan to become a pan-European media player.

Pierre-Antoine Capton

Mediawan founders Pierre-Antoine Capton, Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse created a holding company called Mediawan Alliance, supported by other financing partners, to build a major new player in audiovisual content creation and distribution in Europe.

The acquisition of Lagardère Studios is a major part of this strategy and comes after Mediawan submitted a binding offer to parent Lagardère Group “for a total consideration of up to €100m [US$112m]” in June.

As well as the deal for Lagardère Studios, Mediawan has also acquired Capton’s production group Troisième Oeil’s audiovisual activities and a minority stake in KKR-backed German studio Leonine, whose CEO, Fred Kogel, is deputy CEO of Mediawan Alliance.

Lagardère Studios, which owns 25 production labels, is one of the key independent players in content production and distribution in Europe.

Active in drama, documentaries and unscripted, it has a presence in France as well as Spain (Grupo Boomerang), Finland (Aito Media), the Netherlands (Skyhigh TV) and Senegal (Keewu).

Troisième Oeil, meanwhile, was founded by Capton in 2001 and produces more than 500 hours of content per year.

“Mediawan Alliance offers significant synergies and development opportunities for Troisième Oeil, which will now have the means to grow in new markets in Europe and in new formats,” said Capton, CEO of Mediawan Alliance, chairman of Groupe Troisième Oeil and chairman of the board of Mediawan.

Capton, telecoms tycoon Niel and investment banker Pigasse created publicly listed Mediawan in 2015 and have since expanded rapidly by buying French producer and distributor AB Group and more than 20 other production companies.