- Finalization of the acquisition of a 51.35% stake in ON
Entertainment, the sixth strategic acquisition since March
2017
- Mediawan’s activities and governance are being organized
into an integrated strategic group built around 4 core businesses:
production of original content, animated content, distribution and
publishing of channels
Regulatory News:
Mediawan (Paris:MDW) (Ticker: MDW - ISIN: FR0013247137),
an independent European audiovisual content platform, today
announced the finalization of its acquisition of a 51.35% stake in
ON Entertainment and the implementation of a new organization based
on 4 core businesses to accompany its future growth.
Mediawan’s operational functioning, governance and reporting
will focus on these four businesses:
- Production of original content – fiction and documentaries
- Animated content
- Distribution of audiovisual programs
- Publishing of channels and associated digital services
In order to allow Mediawan and its various activities to operate
in an efficient and coordinated manner, each core business will be
steered by a specific team reporting directly to the Management
Board and the Group’s other entities.
Having successfully integrated Groupe AB within this new
organization, its CEO Orla Noonan will shortly step down in order
to embark on new professional projects. Deputy CEOs Valérie
Vleeschhouwer and Richard Maroko will keep their responsibilities
and will steer respectively the distribution and channel publishing
activities in this new organization.
Pierre-Antoine Capton, Mediawan’s Chairman, says: “With
the completion of the acquisition of ON Entertainment, Mediawan is
today entering a new phase in its development by putting in place
an organization suited to its new activities. This organization,
and the team that will steer it, will accompany the Group towards
the next stages in its development in order to consolidate its
European leadership position.
The Management Board and the Supervisory Board would like to
express their sincere gratitude to Orla Noonan. Orla has made a
considerable contribution to Groupe AB’s success as its CEO for a
number of years, and has played a decisive role in its integration
within the Mediawan group since 2017”.
1. Finalization of the acquisition of a 51% stake in
ON Entertainment
Mediawan today completed the strategic operation consisting in
acquiring a majority stake in ON Entertainment, in accordance with
the terms and conditions announced on May 16, 2018.
The Group now has, directly and indirectly, 51.35% of ON
Entertainment’s share capital and 50.19% of its voting rights, and
plans to increase this stake to over 60% via the conversion of part
of the shares held by the founders into 1,000,000 newly-issued
Mediawan shares. The ON Entertainment group companies, including
its Chapter 2 subsidiary, will be consolidated in Mediawan accounts
at June 30, 2018.
Through this strategic operation, Mediawan is reaffirming its
ambitions by becoming Europe’s leading independent animated content
studio and by joining forces with a team of acknowledged talent in
order to continue the Group’s development.
The group disbursed €51 million in relation to this operation,
including €16 million through a capital increase in ON
Entertainment. The financing of the acquisition was notably
realized via the €45 million bridge loan announced in March and
undrawn thus far.
2. Reorganization of Mediawan into 4 core
businesses
Mediawan’s recent acquisitions, in the strategic segments of
production of animated content, fiction and documentaries, have
significantly expanded and enhanced the Group’s scope of activity,
resulting in buoyant growth in activity, with revenue increasing
from €160 million in 2017 to close to €270 million anticipated in
2018.
To reflect this transformation, the Management Board has decided
to adopt a new business organization that better reflects
Mediawan’s distinctiveness and offering. The Group will thus be
gradually structured around 4 core businesses:
- Production of original content – fiction and documentaries
- Animated content
- Distribution of audiovisual programs
- Publishing of channels and associated digital services
This new organization will enable Mediawan to operate
efficiently with good coordination between its various activities,
in which the Group intends to be an independent leader in Europe.
Each core business will be steered by a specific team reporting
directly to the Management Board and the Group’s other
entities.
By their very nature, these businesses are complementary, with
many areas of cooperation, notably regarding the Distribution
activity that remains central to the Group’s operations.
Furthermore, these core businesses will be supported by a Group
structure that will develop and surround the Management Board with
cross-business expertise in various operational and functional
areas.
About Mediawan
Mediawan was incorporated in December 2015 as a Special Purpose
Acquisition Company (SPAC) by Pierre-Antoine Capton, Xavier Niel
and Matthieu Pigasse, and the following year raised €250 million
through an IPO on the Euronext regulated market in Paris. Mediawan
has carried out 7 strategic acquisitions since March 2017, thus
consolidating a new independent player in audiovisual content with
a leading position in Europe. The Group operates on 4 segments: the
production of original fiction and documentary content, the running
of animated brands, the distribution of audiovisual content and the
publishing of channels and digital services.
Disclaimer
This document may contain forward-looking statements. Although
Mediawan believes that the estimates and projections reflected in
the forward-looking statements are reasonable, they may prove
materially incorrect, and actual results may materially differ. As
a result, you should not rely on these forward-looking
statements.
For further information, please visit the Mediawan website:
www.mediawan.fr
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MEDIAWANinvestors@mediawan.eupress@mediawan.euorNewCapInvestor
RelationsMarc Willaume, +33 (0)1 44 71 00
13mediawan@newcap.euorNewCapMedia RelationsNicolas
Merigeau, +33 (0)1 44 71 98 55mediawan@newcap.eu