Banijay Group’s $2.2 billion deal for Endemol Shine Group has received clearance from the European Commission’s antitrust regulators, Deadline reported. “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 EC said.
Securing clearance in Europe was the biggest antitrust hurdle Banijay needed to overcome in order to complete the Endemol Shine acquisition from Disney and Apollo Global Management, creating the largest independent production group in the world.
Lov Group, Banijay Chairman Stéphane Courbit’s French holding company, will have control over Banijay and Endemol Shine once the deal is complete. Lov will oversee the combined entity, while French media conglomerate Vivendi, De Agostini and Fimalac are the other main shareholders.
Banijay had originally hoped that antitrust proceedings could be wrapped up in six months, but it is now eight months since the deal was first announced last October. Both companies have been operating independently since the takeover was announced.
Banijay and Endemol Shine will have combined revenues of €3 billion ($3.4 billion), and this deal puts Banijay in control of 200 production labels and global brands including “MasterChef,” “Big Brother,” and “Survivor”.
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