By Amy-Jo Crowley, Paul Sandle and Dawn Chmielewski
LONDON (Reuters) - Banijay, the French TV production group owned by FL Entertainment, has submitted a binding offer for British rival All3Media, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Joint owners Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) and Warner Bros Discovery received binding offers for the "Fleabag" and "The Traitors" maker last week as part of an ongoing sale process, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
There was no certainty a deal with Banijay, the maker of “Big Brother”, “Survivor” and “Black Mirror”, would materialise and other bidders remained in the process, two of the people said.
Spokespeople for Banijay, Liberty Global, Warner Bros and All3Media all declined to comment.
The sellers are expected to award exclusivity to one bidder as soon as the end of this week, one of the sources said.
Peter Chernin’s Northroad Company withdrew after submitting a bid and is no longer in the process, a second person said. Northroad declined to comment.
British broadcaster and production company ITV (LON:ITV) was in talks to buy All3Media earlier in the year, but it said in July it was no longer “actively exploring” a deal. It said it would continue to “monitor” the situation.
The two sides could not agree on a price, two people familiar with the situation said. ITV cited its “disciplined capital allocation framework” when it said the talks had ended. ITV declined to comment.
All3Media’s owners are seeking offers of around 13 times EBITDA, which would equate to about 1.3 billion pounds based on its 2022 accounts, a fourth person with knowledge of the process said.
Banijay had revenues of 3.2 billion euros and EBITDA of 472 million euros in 2022, according to its financial reports.
JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) has been advising Warner Bros Discovery and Liberty Global on the sale. The two companies bought All3Media in 2014 for an enterprise value of about 550 million pounds.
Britain is responsible for 35% of its revenue, with the remainder coming from North America, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and elsewhere, according to All3Media's reports.