Mediawan: a New Organization to Support the Group’s International Ambitions
September 10 2018 - 12:01PM
Business Wire
- Implementation of an operational
organization based on 4 core businesses, each steered by a team
reporting directly to Mediawan’s Management Board
- Strengthening of the Group’s
cross-business functions, to also facilitate the integration of
future acquisitions, notably abroad
- New visual identity for the Group
and its core businesses enhancing Mediawan’s visibility among his
international partners
Regulatory News:
Mediawan (Paris:MDW) (Ticker: MDW - ISIN: FR0013247137),
an independent European audiovisual content platform, ahead of the
publication of its half-year results, details its new organization
based on 4 core businesses.
The acquisitions carried out by Mediawan have enabled it to
constitute a solid asset base with strong positions on
complementary business lines. In order to continue the development
of these activities in a strategically integrated manner and
facilitate the implementation of synergies, the Management Board
decided to adopt a new organization that better reflects Mediawan’s
specificity and offer, an integrated Group on the whole audiovisual
contents value chain.
The Group is thus now structured around 4 core businesses:
- ORIGINALS: production of original
content, fiction and documentaries
The leading producer of fiction and documentaries in France with
13 production companies incorporating the best talents, the
Originals core business lies at the heart of Mediawan’s
strategy. It will be steered by a dedicated team recognized within
the industry, currently being put together.
- ANIMATION: production and management
of animated content
European leader in animated content behind global franchises in
animated series (such as Miraculous) and feature films (such as
Playmobil), the Animation core business is ideally
positioned to benefit from the dynamism of this buoyant market. It
is headed by Aton Soumache, founder of ON kids & family.
- RIGHTS: distribution of audiovisual
programs
With a catalog of over 13,000 hours of programs, supplemented by
more than 250 hours of new productions each year and enjoying
substantial distribution capabilities in France and abroad, the
Rights core business includes all of Mediawan’s distribution
activities. It is led by Valérie Vleeschhouwer, who was at the helm
of this activity at Groupe AB.
- THEMATICS: publishing of channels
and associated digital services
Mediawan is acknowledged to be a leader in content aggregation:
in recent months, the Thematics core business has
strengthened and perpetuated its relations with TV and telecoms
operators to distribute its channels and content amongst a very
broad audience. It is headed by Richard Maroko, who was at the helm
of this activity at Groupe AB.
Pierre-Antoine Capton, Mediawan’s Chairman, says: “To
continue operating efficiently and maintain its agility, Mediawan
is adopting an organization to steer the next stages of its
development. More than ever focused on achieving its objectives,
Mediawan intends to confirm its position as European leader in the
production of premium contents.”
Considered operational organization within the Mediawan
group
The four core businesses are managed independently, each headed
by a specific team. By their very nature, they are complementary
with numerous areas of cooperation. The Rights activity, in
particular, remains central to the way the Group operates, via the
marketing of the content produced by the Originals and
Animation core businesses and the supplying of programs for
the Thematics core business.
Medawan’ ambition is to have these core businesses backed by a
strengthened group structure that will be developed and
incorporate, within Mediawan, cross-business expertise in various
operational and functional areas. This structure, that may
encompass Groupe AB and Mediawan’s support functions, will be
reinforced in order to gradually accompany the entire Group, enable
activities to be steered in a more efficient manner and will
provide the Board with better readability.
This strengthening will also involve the recruitment of new
expertise making it possible to pool know-how and initiate a
consistent strategy on major focuses for the entire Group. Digital
technology and the development of projects on new business models
would notably be targeted.
Within the core businesses, each production company will retain
its own label, and similarly each channel will continue its
activity under its own independent brand. The aim is to protect the
independence of the Group’s talents, particularly regarding
editorial aspects, while optimizing the Group’s structure and
offering solutions to create additional value together.
Evolution in the Supervisory Board
Andrea Scrosati, in order to avoid potential conflicts of
interest with his new position, has resigned from the Supervisory
Board. Therefore, Mediawan’s Supervisory Board, chaired by Pierre
Lescure, is constituted by 8 members.
Next financial press release: H1 2018 results, on
Thursday September 27, 2018 (after market).
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.
For further information, please visit the Mediawan website:
www.mediawan.fr
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MEDIAWANinvestors@mediawan.eupress@mediawan.euorNewCapInvestor
RelationsMarc Willaume, Tel: +33 (0)1 44 71 00
13mediawan@newcap.euorNewCapMedia RelationsNicolas
Merigeau, Tel: +33 (0)1 44 71 98 55mediawan@newcap.eu