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RTL invests €200m as Fremantle set to acquire Asacha Media Group
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L-R: Andrea Scrosati, Gaspard De Chavagnac & Marina Williams
RTL-owned production outfit Fremantle has struck a conditional agreement to acquire global production studio Asacha Media Group.
The acquisition comes after our sister title TBI exclusively reported last year that Asacha was exploring a full or partial sale. The deal sees Fremantle acquire the group from Asacha’s founding partners, managers and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.
Headquartered in Paris, Asacha will continue to be run by co-founder and group CEO Gaspard de Chavagnac, who will now report to Andrea Scrosati, Fremantle’s group COO and CEO Continental Europe.
RTL meanwhile said it was investing €200 million in the Asacha acqusition and Fremantle’s recent acquisition
of an 80% majority stake in the production company Beach House Pictures.
The acquisitions of Asacha Media Group and Beach House Pictures are part of Fremantle’s boost plan to reach €3 billion in full-year revenue by 2025. RTL Group is investing in Fremantle across all three content pillars: entertainment, drama and film, and documentaries.
“The acquisitions of Asacha Media Group and Beach House Pictures are part of Fremantle’s boost plan: to invest in and grow premium production companies around the world and to work with world-class talent. With the acquisitions, Fremantle is well on track to reach its €3 billion revenue target, effectively doubling the global video production business within five years,” said RTL CEO Thomas Rabe.
“Over the past years, Fremantle has significantly grown its portfolio across all genres, with acquisitions in the Nordics, the UK, Italy, the US and Australia. Asacha Media Group complements Fremantle’s European footprint with eight distinctive labels, while Beach House Pictures strengthens Fremantle’s position in Asia – a growth region within its strategic boost plan.”
Asacha is comprised of French production companies Kabo Family, Mintee and Srab Films; Italian labels Picomedia and Stand By Me; and UK-based Red Planet Pictures and Wag.
The company’s portfolio of labels will continuing to report to de Chavagnac, who will also continue to be supported by Marina Williams, chief content officer of Asacha.
Founded in 2020 by de Chavagnac, Williams and Marc-Antoine d’Halluin, Asacha’s labels are behind shows including Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise (Red Planet Pictures); Mare Fuori and La Storia (Picomedia); Saint Omer (Srab Films); Cimetiere Indien (Mintee Studio); and Don’t Pick up the Phone (Wag).
Fremantle’s existing businesses in the regions in which Asacha operates includes Talkback, Thames, Naked, Label 1, Euston Films, Dancing Ledge Productions, Wildstar Films and 72 Films (UK); Fremantle France, Kwaï (France) and Fremantle Italy, The Apartment Pictures, Wildside and Lux Vide (Italy). These will be unaffected by the deal and will continue to operate and report to the current Fremantle structure as before.
“Fremantle is proud to be investing and partnering with the very best international creative talent. Gaspard de Chavagnac, Marina Williams, and Marc-Antoine d’Halluin and the incredible producers and talents that have created Asacha certainly fall into this category, and we are delighted they have chosen to join the Fremantle family,” said Scrosati.
“They have built an impressive portfolio of market-leading labels, each of which perfectly complements our existing businesses in each of their markets. This strategic deal underlines both companies’ ambitious growth targets, and we look forward to collaborating with their immensely talented creatives across the group.”
3 min read
