Banijay, Producer Behind ‘Black Mirror,’ ‘Survivor,’ Eyes ITV, ITV Studios Bid

Industry talk about a possible takeover bid for U.K. TV giant ITV or its production arm ITV Studios is showing no signs of slowing down. On Monday, the latest spotlight was on French production powerhouse Banijay Group, which is in very early-stage talks about a potential acquisition offer for either the whole company or its studio unit, according to the Financial Times.

The report cited two people familiar with the situation. Representatives for ITV and Banijay declined to comment when contacted by THR.

Merging Banijay and ITV, or ITV Studios, would bring together two of Europe’s largest TV production companies. ITV Studios hit franchises include the likes of Love Island, Disney+ series Rivals, The Voice, and Netflix hit Fool Me Once. Meanwhile, Banijay produces the likes of Big Brother, MasterChef, Survivor, Peaky Blinders, and Black Mirror.

ITV’s studio division has previously attracted interest from such companies as RedBird IMI and its production giant All3Media, and private equity groups. ITV’s stock price has gained this year amid the deal chatter.

ITV is continuing to focus on growing a successful production business, CEO Carolyn McCall said during an earnings call with reporters last month, declining to comment on rumors about a possible merger for the division.

“We’ve got a really high-quality business. We already have scale, and we’re very diversified,” she said. “There’s been a lot of speculation, but I think you’d expect that speculation. There’s (also) speculation about Banijay and Fremantle, and there’s speculation about all studios businesses. We won’t comment on any speculation. All we would say is that we will continue to build the business as it has been built. We’ve grown even since 2018 by about 35 percent.”

If Banijay made a bid for all of ITV, it would likely look to bring in additional investors, according to the FT report.