Banijay in early talks on ITV's Studios as RedBird deal stalls, sources say

By Amy-Jo Crowley, Hadeel Al Sayegh and Paul Sandle

LONDON (Reuters) -Banijay, the French TV production group behind "Big Brother" and backed by the Arnault family, has held discussions about a possible offer for British broadcaster ITV's studio business, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Banijay has also explored a full takeover of ITV, which would involve securing investment from a third party, the first person said.

The news, first reported by the Financial Times on Sunday, comes as ongoing talks between ITV and RedBird IMI, the owner of All3Media, about merging their studios have hit a stumbling block, the people and third person said.

Shares in ITV were down 3.5% in afternoon trade.

Merging ITV Studios with either group would create a European production powerhouse, which would have increased strength in dealing with broadcasters and streamers such as Netflix and Disney+ that are increasingly dominating the market.

The sources cautioned that Banijay's interest in ITV was at an early stage and no deal was guaranteed.

The discussions have centred on merging the "Big Brother", "Survivor" and "Black Mirror" producer with ITV Studios, two of the people said.

Similar plans were abandoned in 2023 as Banijay wanted control of the business, which was a stumbling block for a deal, Reuters reported at the time. Banijay would seek control of ITV Studios in a deal with ITV, the first person told Reuters.

Spokespeople for ITV, Banijay and RedBird IMI declined to comment.

Meanwhile, the talks with RedBird IMI, reported by Reuters in January, have recently hit an impasse over governance and valuation, the sources said.

While RedBird IMI is open to being a minority shareholder, it would like more governance rights such as board representation, the third person said.

Production companies have come under pressure from reductions in budgets from ad-funded broadcasters and a drop in commissions from some streamers. This is prompting studio groups to consider mergers to cut costs and pool resources.

ITV, Britain's biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster, has been the subject of takeover speculation for years, but no deal has materialised.

ITV is also continuing to hold discussions with other interested parties, two of the people said. It could eventually decide to run a formal process due to the level of interest in Studios, the first person said.

ITV's Studio business has been valued at as much as 3 billion pounds ($3.7 billion), according to analysts. The other half of the business - Media and Entertainment - includes its broadcast channels and streaming service ITVX.

Only about 9% of Banijay's shares are freely traded in Amsterdam. They indicate it has a market value of about 3.6 billion euros.

A group that includes the Arnaults' Financière Agache and Tikehau Capital owns about 45% of Banijay, while Vivendi owns about 19%, according to its website.

ITV CEO Carolyn McCall in March said there had been speculation about all studios businesses, including rivals Banijay and Fremantle. RTL's Freemantle have explored merger options to cut costs and pool resources, Reuters has reported.

(Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley, Hadeel Al Sayegh and Paul Sandle; editing by David Evans)