Banijay & Zodiak Complete Merger

PARIS: Banijay and Zodiak Media have officially completed the transaction to unite their catalogues and production units.

The company will operate under the name Banijay Group, which is 73.8 percent controlled by a company composed of Stéphane Courbit’s LOV Group (50.1 percent) and DeA Communications—a company belonging to De Agostini Group (49.9 percent), with Vivendi owning 26.2 percent of the total group.

The new group contains operations in 17 territories producing entertainment, drama, factual, reality entertainment, docudrama, children’s and animated programming.

Stéphane Courbit is named chairman and Marco Bassetti is appointed CEO of Banijay Group. Sophie Kurinckx is promoted to CFO of the entire group. Both companies’ international distribution operations are merging and will be led by Tim Mutimer, who has become head of distribution of Banijay Group. The distribution arm will keep the name of Zodiak Rights. Frédérique Sauvage has been appointed general counsel of Banijay Group.

Courbit commented, “I am very pleased to confirm the merger of two such successful and innovative companies. I have every confidence that this strong group of managers and creative talent will thrive on the global stage. It is my pleasure to welcome Vivendi to our new Group and we look forward to a prosperous future together.”

Lorenzo Pellicioli, CEO of De Agostini Group, stated, “The merger between Banijay and Zodiak Media, two companies of which De Agostini Group has been a shareholder since the very beginning, creates a real leading international player. Indeed I firmly believe that—thanks to the quality and size of the product portfolio, the geographical footprint, the excellence of the management team and the support of the shareholders—the new group will be well-equipped to compete on a global basis in the creation, production and distribution of television content.”

Arnaud de Puyfontaine, the CEO of Vivendi, said, “Vivendi is delighted to be part of this new global powerhouse in independent content production and distribution. One of our group’s main goals is to invest in companies developing world-class, original programming. Banijay Group combines strong international creative talent with an extremely wide range of television shows and formats. I am convinced the new merged entity has all the skills and assets to deliver compelling entertainment for multiplatform media audiences.”

Bassetti commented, “Banijay and Zodiak bring together teams of leading programming creators, producers and format developers from around the world and a well-established international distribution arm with an extensive catalogue. Our united group has strength in both its talent and assets to deliver a wide and diverse range of winning content across multiple platforms; maximizing our global footprint and optimizing our business opportunities.”