Media conglomerate Banijay Group has signed a deal to merge Banijay Entertainment (which operates a robust kids division) with All3Media to create a “global media and entertainment powerhouse”.

Banijay Group teamed up with RedBird IMI (a joint-venture between RedBird Capital Partners and Abu Dhabi-based media group IMI) to buy All3Media, a company that doesn’t produce much kids content—with the notable exception of owning Little Dot Studios, a production company, social media agency and digital network that is currently managing a thriving Dr. Seuss Enterprises YouTube channel. 

Under this proposed M&A deal, All3Media would be absorbed into a combined company called Banijay, which would absorb RedBird IMI’s stake in All3Media. This effectively means that Banijay Group would get roughly US$925 million (€796 million), including a direct payment by Redbird IMI that amounts to about US$727 million (€625 million), and a US$198-million (€171-million) pre-closing dividend to be paid by Banijay Entertainment to Banijay Group to reflect the valuations of All3Media and Banijay Entertainment. 

The deal is still subject to regulatory approval, and is expected to close by this fall. If it does, the merged entity expects to have a combined 260,000 hours of content in its catalogue and generate revenue that exceeds US$5 billion—more than Banijay Group made in 2024. 

Banijay Group and RedBird IMI would then each own a 50% stake in the new company, which will be run by CEO Marco Bassetti (currently CEO of Banijay Entertainment). All3Media CEO Jane Turton would become deputy CEO, and Redbird IMI CEO Jeff Zucker would head up the board as chairman. 

This merger is all about “more scale, more IPs, more growth,” said Banijay Group CEO François Riahi on a call yesterday. He expects the merged company to benefit from synergy-related cost savings of roughly US$58 million (€50 million) within 12 months after the deal closes. 

And while the announcement was heavy with such predictions, a 29-slide presentation deck that the company released doesn’t specifically reference Banijay’s kids & family business, which has a proprietary catalogue that includes Totally Spies!, Mr Bean and Horrid Henry. And as a distributor, it also represents animated and live-action children’s titles such as Moominvalley, Stan & Gran and PiriPenguins. 

If there are any specific plans for kids content, the company is keeping a tight lid on them for now. Banijay Kids & Family CEO Benoit Di Sabatino did not respond to Kidscreen‘s request for comment. And a company spokesperson could only offer, “At this stage, we have only signed, not closed a deal. Therefore, beyond this release, there is no more to say on the potential outcomes of the deal as we proceed through the necessary regulatory processes.”

One exception to this is Little Dot Studios, which Riahi highlighted in the presentation. Besides Seuss, it also manages the social presence and YouTube channels of older-skewing brands like Louis Vuitton, Gordon Ramsay and The Graham Norton Show, and this expertise should help Banijay accelerate its digital business. The company already handles All3Media’s catalogue, and it will take on Banijay’s, too.

“Little Dot brings strong audience reach, data expertise and deep integration within the creator economy to a scale that we don’t have today at Banijay Entertainment,” said Riahi on the call. He also noted that Banijay has production experience building franchises such as Mr Bean (pictured), and by bringing these two skillsets together, the company can create a strong digital ecosystem that “strengthens catalogue exploitation, improves audience targeting and unlocks scalable, recurring and data-driven digital revenue streams.” 

Image courtesy of Banijay Kids & Family.