Banijay to Go Public via SPAC Deal

FL Entertainment, consisting of Banijay Group and the online betting firm Betclic Everest Group, is set to be listed as a public company via a deal with Pegasus Entrepreneurs, a special purpose acquisition company.

FL Entertainment will be listed on Euronext Amsterdam with Stéphane Courbit as chairman and François Riahi as CEO. “Achieving a public listing of FL Entertainment through this partnership with Pegasus Entrepreneurs is a milestone in the history of our group,” Courbit said. “As a result of the transaction, the group will benefit from a robust balance sheet and will be very well positioned to capture growth in the entertainment industry. FL Entertainment is all about partnership, and I am pleased to welcome Pegasus Entrepreneurs and its sponsors as shareholders to our strengthened partnership with Vivendi, SBM International, Fimalac and De Agostini, our existing shareholders in Banijay Group and Betclic Everest Group, who have given us their full support to make FL Entertainment even more powerful. One of the key strengths of FL Entertainment is its management team: François Riahi as CEO of FL Entertainment, Marco Bassetti as CEO of the Banijay Group and Nicolas Béraud as CEO of the Betclic Everest Group. Both Marco and Nicolas have developed their businesses with tremendous success so far and will continue to do so in the new structure, supported by a talented team.”

Pierre Cuilleret, sponsor and CEO of Pegasus Entrepreneurs and future member of the FL Entertainment board, added, “Pegasus Entrepreneurs was created by long-term investors with the objective of partnering with an entrepreneur-led European company with a track record of achieving profitable growth, and the potential to accelerate growth and create value with access to our expertise, network and listing platform. We could not dream of a better opportunity than partnering with FL Entertainment and Stéphane Courbit to achieve our objective on behalf of our shareholders. The proposed business combination with FL Entertainment benefits from strong support from our shareholders and investors, as evidenced by an unprecedented level of non-redemption commitments already received, as well as the largest ever PIPE raising by a European-listed SPAC. We look forward to the next stage of FL Entertainment’s growth and value creation.”

Courbit’s Financière Lov invested in Betclic in 2007 and founded the Banijay Group in 2008. In 2021, the combined revenue of Banijay and Betclic totaled €3.5 billion ($3.7 billion). For 2022, FL Entertainment expects revenues of €3.8 ($4 billion). The transaction values FL Entertainment at €4.1 billion ($4.3 billion), with an enterprise value of €7.2 billion ($7.6 billion). The listing expects to raise proceeds of €760 million ($800.8 million). Financière Lov is expected to hold 46 percent of the share capital of the company and 72 percent of its voting rights. Vivendi is expected to hold 19 percent, Fimalac 7 percent, SBM 10 percent and De Agostini 5 percent. The transaction is expected to close on June 30, 2022, with a listing on July 1.