On the media planet, a “big bang” is looming, to use the expression of Matthieu Pigasse. The latter founded, with the troublemaker of telecommunications Xavier Niel and the television producer Pierre-Antoine Capton, the audiovisual production company Mediawan in 2015.
The trio now have the ambition to transform their company into a “European leader in content”. How? 'Or' What ? Explanations.
Up to 100 million euros to buy Lagardère Studios
Mediawan announces this Monday the acquisition of Lagardère Studios, the audiovisual production subsidiary of the Lagardère group - from which Arnaud Lagardère has been seeking to part for a long time. Amount of the transaction? Up to 100 million euros were put on the table to acquire this company present on the French, Spanish, Finnish and Dutch markets and in the eclectic catalog ranging from the soap opera of TF1 Joséphine, guardian angel to the Netflix series The Eddy , bet online in May.
Mediawan has also "acquired a majority stake in The Good Mood Productions", a Spanish television producer, mainly present in the series, for an unspecified sum.
Pigasse, Niel and Capton want "exclusive control"
The Pigasse-Niel-Capton trio has also created a new structure, Mediawan Alliance, which should launch a takeover bid for the Mediawan group in July. “Until now we [the three founders] had 20% of the shares in Mediawan and no exclusive control. If the public offer is successful, this will be the case, ”underlines Xavier Niel.
Mediawan Alliance intends to buy Pierre-Antoine Capton its own production company, Troisième Oeil, which designs among others C à vous (France 5), Le Grand Echiquier (France 2) or Zemmour et Naulleau (Paris Première).
These various operations, which should be completed by September or October - some require the green light from the competition authorities - will allow Mediawan to double in size and diversify.
"Mediawan opens up to a new activity, the production of streams [which are intended to be broadcast only once, such as TV games or talk shows, unlike the so-called" stock programs] "What are fictions and documentaries], and we will be able to develop co-productions on a European scale", summarizes Pierre-Antoine Capton.
Over twenty acquisitions in five years
Mediawan has become, over the years and acquisitions; a major player in TV production in France. In 2017, the company got its hands on the AB group, then on certain activities of Europacorp (the group of Luc Besson) and the producer of the Red Bracelets in 2018. In early 2019, it set foot in Italy by buying the producer of the series Commissioner Montalbano and The name of the rose .
“We have made more than twenty acquisitions since the creation of Mediawan, our desire is to continue in this direction. We are driven by demand from platforms and our size allows us to provide them with content for all of their countries, ”concludes Xavier Niel. The planets therefore seem aligned for the "big bang".
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