Banijay has confirmed what has been unofficially known for months: that its distribution arm Banijay Rights will subsume Endemol Shine International following the two companies’ mega-merger.
Cathy Payne was confirmed as the CEO of Banijay Rights in April after running Endemol Shine International for nearly five years. She will be responsible for bringing the two businesses together under her leadership — starting this month.
The process is likely to result in a number of redundancies, with around 80 staff currently working at Endemol Shine International. Banijay hopes to have completed the merger by the autumn, putting Banijay Rights in control of 88,000 hours of content and global brands including Big Brother and MasterChef.
Payne said: “In an increasingly integrated production and exploitation business environment, it is critical that we have all finished tape efforts under a combined strategy.”
Banijay’s takeover of Endemol Shine has already resulted in a number of senior departures. Deadline revealed last week that Nicola Bamford, the CEO of Endemol Shine’s international operations, is stepping down. She follows CEO Sophie Turner Laing out the exit door.