Mediawan is a French
media conglomerate.
It was founded in December 2015 by
Xavier Niel (founder of
Free
Free may refer to:
Concept
* Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything
* Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism
* Emancipate, to procur ...
),
Matthieu Pigasse (general director of the bank
Lazard and, with Xavier Niel, a major stock holder in ''
Le Monde'' and ''
L'Obs'') and
Pierre-Antoine Capton (founder of the French media production company
Troisième Œil Productions) under the legal form of a
special-purpose acquisition company
A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC; ), also known as a "blank check company", is a shell corporation listed on a stock exchange with the purpose of acquiring a private company, thus making it public without going through the traditional i ...
("SPAC") to acquire assets and operations in the media production and distribution business in Europe
with the ambition to become "one of the largest platforms for European content".
The company
went public
Going public may refer to:
* Initial public offering, financial action by a business
* Whistleblowing, exposure of previously private information
* ''Going Public'' (Newsboys album), 1994
* ''Going Public'' (Bruce Johnston album), 1977
{{Dis ...
on April 22, 2016,
raising €250 million ($310 million).
In July 2016, Mediawan acquired
CC&C, a film production company specializing in documentaries.
In January 2017, Mediawan acquired
AB Groupe for €270 million. Before that AB Groupe was owned by
Claude Berda (53%) and
TF1 Group
TF1 Group (french: Groupe TF1) is a French media holding company. Its best-known property is the broadcast network TF1.
The group was formed after TF1 was privatized in April 1987. It is controlled with a 43% stake by Bouygues, and is quoted ...
(33.5%).
In December 2017, it was reported that Mediawan was in talks for acquiring a stake of up to 55% in
Aton Soumache
Aton, ATON or variants thereof may refer to:
People
* Aton Ben-Horin (born 1979), American music executive and record producer
* Aton Edwards (born c. 1962), American expert in the fields of emergency preparedness, self-reliance and sustainable li ...
and
Dimitri Rassam
Dimitri Rassam (born 16 November 1981) is a Lebanese-French film producer and a member of the Monegasque princely family through marriage.
Background and education
Rassam is the son of actress Carole Bouquet and film producer Jean-Pierre Rassa ...
’s animation studio
ON Kids & Family (including
Method Animation) for about €50 million.
In January 2018, Mediawan acquired the French television division of
Luc Besson's
EuropaCorp
EuropaCorp S.A. (stylised in opening logo as EUROPA CORP.) is a French motion picture company headquartered in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, and one of a few full service independent studios that both produces and distributes feature ...
and renamed into Storia Television.
On 6 June 2018, Mediawan announced that its acquisition of a 53.53% stake in ON Entertainment was finalized
On 11 October 2018, Mediawan rebranded AB Groupe as
Mediawan Thematics.
On 22 June 2020, Mediawan announced their intent to buy Lagardère Studios from the
Lagardère Group
Lagardère S.A. () is an international group with operations in over 40 countries. It is headquartered in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The group was created in 1992 as Matra, Hachette & Lagardère. Headed by Arnaud Lagardère, it is focuse ...
for €100,000,000. The sale was completed on November 2 of that same year.
On 30 October 2022, it was reported that Mediawan was in talks to acquiring in a significant stake
Brad Pitt
William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...
's studio
Plan B Entertainment
Plan B Entertainment, Inc., more commonly known as Plan B, is an American production company founded in November in 2001 by Brad Grey, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston and Kristin Hahn. In 2005, after Pitt and Aniston divorced, Grey became the CEO ...
.
References
External links
* {{Official website, https://mediawan.fr/
Mass media companies of France
Companies based in Paris
2015 establishments in France
Mass media in Paris