The deal value was rumoured to be €2bn, according to several press reports.

The acquisition will be financed through a capital increase of Banijay Group and debt financing, which includes a full refinancing of Banijay and Endemol Shine's existing financial debt, supported by Deutsche Bank, Natixis and Societe Generale. Following the capital increase, the merged business will be controlled by LDH (67.1%) and Vivendi (32.9%). 

The combination of Banijay and Endemol Shine will create a TV content producer with around 200 production companies in 23 territories and the rights for close to 100,000 hours of content. Total pro-forma revenues of the combined group is expected to be approximately €3bn for 2019, according to a Banijay statement.

Because of the moderate debt load that Banijay carried ahead of this acquisition (adjusted debt of €560m, equivalent to 3.8x adjusted gross debt/EBITDA), the combined entity would likely have much lower leverage than Endemol Shine's standalone leverage pre-transaction of 8x for the 12 months to June 2019, according to Unquote sister publication Debtwire.

Previous funding
Original founder John De Mol sold Endemol to Spanish telecoms group Telefónica in 2000 for €5.5bn. Five years later, 25% of the company was listed on the Dutch stock exchange.

A group led by Italian television producer Mediaset then bought 75% of Telefónica in 2007. As a result, Endemol was sold to a consortium including Mediaset, Mediacinco Cartera, Mediaset's Spanish division Gestevision Telecinco, Goldman Sachs, and John de Mol's investment vehicle, Cyrte Fund.

Apollo acquired a majority stake in Endemol in 2012 in a debt-for-equity swap. Previous lenders included Centrebridge, Providence Equity Partners, Barclays, RBS and the Lehman Brothers estate.

The GP then reduced its stake to 50% in 2014 while 21st Century Fox took over the remaining 50% in the company and Cyrte Investments exited its stake. The transaction was valued at €1.44bn, according to Unquote Data. Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Nomura arranged the debt package to support the deal. The group was then renamed Endemol Shine.

The Walt Disney Company acquired 21st Century Fox's assets in Q1 this year. 

Company
Founded in 1994 and based in Amsterdam, Endemol Shine is an independent TV producer, operating 120 production labels across 22 markets. Some of the company's best-known properties include MasterChef and Big Brother. Endemol Shine's operating revenues in 2017 came to €1.84bn, down from €1.89bn in 2016, according to the online website Variety.

People
Endemol Shine Group – Sophie Turner Laing (CEO).
Banijay – Marco Bassetti (CEO).

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