Cleary Gottlieb represented De Agostini Communications SA (DEA Communications) in the acquisition of the Endemol Shine Group by Banijay Entertainment, a wholly owned subsidiary of Banijay Group, from the Walt Disney Company and Apollo Global Management.
The transaction closed on July 2, 2020. The acquisition was financed through a capital increase of Banijay Group and committed debt financing, which included a committed full refinancing of Banijay Group and Endemol Shine Group’s existing financial debt.
Banijay Group is held by LDH and Vivendi. LDH is a holding company held by Financière LOV (Stéphane Courbit’s investment arm), DEA Communications, and Fimalac (investment company of Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière).
The acquisition will position Banijay Group at the forefront of content production and distribution and as a premier home for the industry’ s leading on- and off-screen talent. Banijay Group will own almost 200 production companies in 23 territories and the rights for close to 100,000 hours of content.
DEA Communications SA is the media and communication sector sub-holding comprising De Agostini’s interests in content production, broadcasting, and distribution of content for television, new media, and cinema. De Agostini is an italian holding company providing investment services for publishing, media and communication, and related industries.
Endemol Shine Group produces and distributes multi-platform entertainment content worldwide including daily soaps, cartoons, game and cooking shows, and scripted entertainment contents such as Black Mirror, Versailles, The Millennium Trilogy, Peaky Blinders, Big Brother, MasterChef, Survivor, Temptation Island, Wife Swap, and The Island.