FL Entertainment Becomes Banijay Group Under ‘Big Brother’ Company Rebrand

EXCLUSIVE: There’s a group-wide rebrand afoot at FL Entertainment, the parent of Big Brother firm Banijay.

Euronext Amsterdam-listed FL will now be known as Banijay Group, with three Banijay-branded subsidiaries sitting underneath. Banijay Entertainment (formerly Banijay) will house the content production and distribution business under CEO Marco Bassetti.

Banijay Live is the new moniker for live experiences business Banijay Events, and Banijay Gaming is the new name for the company’s online sports betting and gaming activities, housing Betclic and Bet at Home.

From a reporting standpoint, Banijay Entertainment and Banijay Live will be housed together under Bassetti, with Nicolas Béraud running Banijay Gaming as CEO.

Like the existing Banijay TV group, Banijay Entertainment will comprise more than 130 production companies across 21 territories. Producers in the group include Bunim/Murray, the Endemol Shine- and Nordisk-branded labels, Grøenlandia, Initial, Kudos, Mastiff, Remarkable and Stephen David Entertainment and Banijay Rights is the distributor, shopping the likes of Big Brother, Deal or No Deal, Peaky Blinders, Survivor and MasterChef around the world.

The division will retain its pink Banijay branding and leaderships and staff remain unchanged.

“This strategic rebranding reflects the complementarity nature of our existing activities and underlines our ambition as an integrated and diversified entertainment leader,” said Banijay Group CEO François Riahi. “Banijay Group gathers an incredible amount of talent, committed to create passion, emotion and to conceive entertaining experiences for the general public globally.”

FL Entertainment was formed in May 2022 through a merger with Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) Pegasus Entrepreneurs, which was backed by European asset management company Tikehau Capital and investment firm Financière Agache. The move saw Banijay founder Stephane Courbit take Banijay and Betclic public in a deal backed by the likes of Bernard Arnault and Vincent Bolloré.

The company launched with an enterprise value of €7.2B ($7.8B). In March, we reported FL had increased revenue nearly 6% year-on-year to reach €3.3B and adjusted EBIDTA nearly 7% to €494M. Q1 2024 results showed revenues up 10.6% at €1B and adjusted earnings of €164M.

Banijay remains the biggest indie production house in the world by turnover, ahead of the likes of ITV Studios and Fremantle. The company was created in 2008 after former Endemol Shine France boss Courbit acquired a number of European production outfits. It was previously known as Banijay Entertainment in a period before it merged with another European production group, Zodiak Media, to form Banijay Group in 2015. Banijay later bought Endemol Shine Group before FL Entertainment was formed and listed on the Dutch stock exchange.