French production giant Banijay Group is on the verge of taking over Endemol Shine Group for €2 billion, in a deal that could be wrapped up within days. A source with knowledge of the matter told Deadline that a deal will spark a “bloodbath” of job cuts at the Dutch-British production company behind shows like “Peaky Blinders”.
Endemol Shine Group, which is jointly owned by Disney and private equity group Apollo Global Management, has been trying to find new ownership for 18 months, after the media broke the news that the company was in line for a sale. Since then, more than 10 prospective buyers have demonstrated interest on Endemol, including All3Media and Fremantle.
Endemol Shine Group has a significant debt pile, which has been a big point in negotiations and played a part in its sale tag falling to €2 billion. In fact, it was originally targeting up to €4 billion for the sale.
Combining Banijay and Endemol Shine would create the largest TV producer-distributor in the market outside of the Hollywood studios and U.S. players. The merged company woud have production entities on both sides of the Atlantic, a huge catalogue and sizable sales arms.
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