'Love Island USA'
‘Love Island USA’Jocelyn Prescod / Peacock

Banijay has been among the most acquisitive independent TV makers of recent years, and now reportedly has its sights on ITV.

According to the FT, the French production and distribution giant has entered early stage talks to buy the UK network. A deal would either be an outright takeover or just for lucrative production wing ITV Studios, which makes the likes of Love Island and Mr Bates Vs the Post Office.

Should the deal materialize as a full takeover, the FT reports that Banijay would need to bring in third-party investors.

ITV is currently worth more than £3B ($4B) after a share price rise that followed after it became clear a deal for its studios arm was possible. Much of that value is applied to ITV Studios, which some analysts suggest would fetch a similar number on its own. This lays bare the lack of value buyers are attaching to the ITV network business, which includes the flagship linear channel and streamer ITVX.

Banijay rival All3Media has been closely linked with ITV, with reports from January suggesting they had explored merging their production assets. France’s TF1 Group and Formula One owner CVC Capital Partners have also been rumored as potential suitors too.

Banijay, which was originally formed back in 2008, tied up one of the biggest deals of recent years when it bought Endemol Shine Group for $2.2B in 2020. That followed the 2015 merger of Banijay Entertainment and Zodiak Media Group, which created a business worth over $1B. TV arm Banijay Entertainment is now part of a Euronext-listed Banijay Group that includes live events and betting businesses and has a market cap of €3.6B.

ITV Studios is comprised of a centralized production division that makes the likes of Coronation Street, plus a suite of production companies such as Rivals maker Happy Prince, Love Island UK firm Lifted Entertainment and Fool Me Once producer Quay Street Productions. It also operates ITV Studios-branded production bases and other indies in 12 other countries, including the U.S., where ITV America is one of the country’s most prolific unscripted producers.

Banijay and ITV declined to comment.