European Commission clears Banijay’s ESG takeover

The European Commission has cleared Banijay Group’s €2bn (£1.7bn) takeover of Endemol Shine Group.

The ruling by the competition division of the European Union’s executive branch was the final regulatory hurdle the protracted mega-merger faced following the announcement of the deal in October last year.

A statement from the EC said it had “approved the acquisition under European Merger Regulation”, with the transaction “reviewed as part of the normal merger control procedure”.

“The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would not raise competition concerns given the presence of a sufficient number of alternative players with portfolios of similar content in the countries concerned,” the statement read.

Banijay had long been confident in securing the regulatory go-ahead, with executive vice-president of sales and acquisitions for EMEA and former chief executive of Banijay Rights Tim Mutimer recently telling Broadcast the takeover was “on-track to close in the summer”.

Paris-headquartered Banijay secured financing in February and will now complete the deal to create a global production and distribution powerhouse that Broadcast estimates will own nearly 200 production labels and a catalogue of around 85,000 hours. Banijay said the combined group turnover will be nearly €3bn (£2.6bn) in 2019.

The union brings together Banijay unscripted formats Survivor, Temptation Island and The Real World with ESG’s Big Brother, MasterChef and Deal or No Deal, and scripted series such as Versailles with Black Mirror and Peaky Blinders.

Following completion of the takeover, the combined entity will be 67.1% owned by Banijay chairman Stéphane Courbit’s Financière Lov (aka Lov Group) via holding company LDH, while French media group Vivendi will control the other 32.9%.

LDH comprises Courbit’s Lov Group and Italy’s De Agostini (36%) and investment company Fimalac.

Banijay declined to comment on the ruling, when approached by Broadcast.