Banijay is in the driving seat to buy All3Media, Deadline understands.
Sources have indicated that the Big Brother and Survivor behemoth is now leading the pack and, according to Reuters, Banijay has submitted a binding offer.
All3Media’s owners Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and Liberty Global received offers last week for the Squid Game: The Challenge and Traitors producer-distributor, which is valued at around £1B ($1.3B). Others aside from Banijay are said to remain in the process.
The All3Media sale, which could wrap up this side of Christmas, has been one of the key talking points at this week’s Content London, and two sources have indicated to Deadline that Banijay is well placed. Sellers are expected to award exclusivity to one bidder as soon as the end of this week, a source told Reuters.
Banijay CEO Marco Bassetti was asked about the deal during his Content London session but he batted away the question. While there were initially question marks over whether the France-headquartered powerhouse would bid, the outfit’s interest has grown.
The company, which is owned by FL Entertainment, recently integrated Endemol Shine Group following a $2.2B takeover and is acquisitive. “We are very active in M&A but we never pay crazy prices,” Bassetti told The Times last year.
Deadline revealed several weeks ago that Banijay and Peter Chernin’s North Road were leading the pack, while we also broke the news of Goldman Sachs emerging as a surprise candidate. According to Reuters, North Road withdrew after submitting a bid and is no longer in the process.
Julian Bellamy, CEO of ITV Studios, told Content London that there is “no change” to its position on All3Media. The British broadcasting and production giant said in July that it was not actively exploring a deal, but it would maintain a watching brief.
JPMorgan has been advising WBD and Liberty Global on the sale.
Banijay, WBD, All3Media, and North Road declined to comment. Liberty Global did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Additional reporting by Jesse Whittock and Jake Kanter
