Banijay Entertainment boss Marco Bassetti today hailed a “monumental week” for his business as it prepares to merge with All3Media, but the French giant still saw production and distribution revenue fall in 2025.
Full-year results released late afternoon in Europe saw production revenues come in at €2.52B ($2.92B), down 3.6% on 2024, when the figure was €2.61B. The dip in distribution was even larger, down 7.2% year-over-year at €368.3M. Banijay Entertainment is grouped with experiences unit Banijay Live, and together they posted revenue of €3.29B.
In its commentary for shareholders, Banijay said: “In 2025, while the industry continued to face a disciplined commissioning environment, Banijay Entertainment demonstrated resilience, capitalising on its scale and leading market position to reinforce its status as a trusted partner to global streaming platforms and local broadcasters.”
Overall, Banijay Group recorded revenues of €4.88B, up 1.6%, thanks to growth in experiences unit Banijay Live, which is grouped with Banijay Entertainment, and Banijay Gaming. Adjusted EBITDA was up 6.8% at €961.1M and operating profit was €641M up 25.5% year-over-over. Net debt dropped from 2.9x in 2024 to 2.7x (€2.57B).
The financials come two days after Banijay and All3Media parent RedBird IMI announced an merger that will form the world’s largest independent TV production group with 2024 pro form revenues of $8.6B. This will bring together 170 production companies and titles such as such as The Traitors, Big Brother, Survivor, Peaky Blinders, Gogglebox and Hamnet, and a business spanning the UK, U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific.
This will include RedBird IMI will fully rolling out its investment into the new combined entity, paying Banijay Group €625m as part of a €796M total cash upstream that will see both partners take a 50% stake in the business. A €171M pre-closing dividend will be paid by Banijay Entertainment to Banijay Group as part of the agreement to reflect the transaction value.
Despite the financial drops in the TV division, Bassetti, Banijay Entertainment and Banijay Live’s CEO, said: “This has been nothing short of a monumental week for our business. As our annual results land for 2025, the strategic rationale behind combining Banijay Entertainment and All3Media is amplified. While this year’s results sit against a backdrop of complicated market conditions, they demonstrate the value of scaled creativity, an expansive footprint, first-class talent, and a diversified strategy.
“Over the year we delivered more than 16,000 hours of content and launched 80+ titles with global streamers including House of Guinness, Culpa Nuestra, Mrs Playmen and Last One Laughing UK amongst other version, and in live events, we delivered the Winter Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
“In a consolidating market, scale matters, and the new combination will only enhance our ability to attract and retain great talent, monetise our IP via digital and live, and increase our investment in creativity and new technologies. Now more than ever, we need to build a resilient media and entertainment powerhouse designed for long-term growth.”