Mediawan is a French

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

conglomerate. It was founded in December 2015 by

Xavier Niel Xavier Niel (born 25 August 1967) is a French billionaire businessman involved in the telecommunications and technology industry. He is best known as founder and majority shareholder of the French Internet service provider and mobile operator I ...

(founder of Free),

Matthieu Pigasse Matthieu Pigasse (born 1968) is a French investment banker, media mogul and investor. He previously served as Lazard's Global Head of Mergers and Acquisitions and Sovereign Advisory, as well as CEO of Lazard France. He currently serves as head of C ...

(general director of the bank

Lazard Lazard Ltd (formerly known as Lazard Frères & Co.) is a financial advisory and asset management firm that engages in investment banking, asset management and other financial services, primarily with institutional clients. It is the world's la ...

and, with Xavier Niel, a major stock holder in ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' and ''

L'Obs (), previously known as (1964–2014), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, it is the most prominent French general information magazine in terms of audience and circulation. Its current editor is Cécil ...

'') and Pierre-Antoine Capton (founder of the French media production company Troisième Œil Productions) under the legal form of a special-purpose acquisition company ("SPAC") to acquire assets and operations in the media production and distribution business in Europe with the ambition to become "one of the largest platforms for European content". The company went public on April 22, 2016, raising €250 million ($310 million). In July 2016, Mediawan acquired CC&C, a film production company specializing in documentaries. In January 2017, Mediawan acquired

AB Groupe Mediawan Thematics (formerly known as AB Groupe) is a French business group in the field of broadcasting. It was founded in 1977 by Jean-Luc Azoulay and Claude Berda as a music production company, and in 1987 went into the world of television ...

for €270 million. Before that AB Groupe was owned by

Claude Berda Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...

(53%) and TF1 Group (33.5%). In December 2017, it was reported that Mediawan was in talks for acquiring a stake of up to 55% in

Aton Soumache Aton, ATON or variants thereof may refer to: People * Aton Ben-Horin (born 1979), American music executive and record producer * Aton Edwards (born c. 1962), American expert in the fields of emergency preparedness, self-reliance and sustainable li ...

and Dimitri Rassam’s animation studio

ON Kids & Family On, on, or ON may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * On (band), a solo project of Ken Andrews * ''On'' (EP), a 1993 EP by Aphex Twin * ''On'' (Echobelly album), 1995 * ''On'' (Gary Glitter album), 2001 * ''On'' (Imperial Teen album), 200 ...

(including

Method Animation Method Animation (sometimes called Method Animation Studios or Norman Studios and also known as ON Animation Studios or ON Kids & Family or Mediawan Animation) is a French company which produces CGI-animated shows. It came together in 2014 as the ...

) for about €50 million. In January 2018, Mediawan acquired the French television division of

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films ''Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...

EuropaCorp EuropaCorp S.A. (stylised in opening logo as EUROPA CORP.) is a French motion picture company headquartered in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, and one of a few full service independent studios that both produces and distributes feature ...

and renamed into Storia Television. On 6 June 2018, Mediawan announced that its acquisition of a 53.53% stake in ON Entertainment was finalized On 11 October 2018, Mediawan rebranded AB Groupe as

Mediawan Thematics Mediawan Thematics (formerly known as AB Groupe) is a French business group in the field of broadcasting. It was founded in 1977 by Jean-Luc Azoulay and Claude Berda as a music production company, and in 1987 went into the world of television ...

. On 22 June 2020, Mediawan announced their intent to buy Lagardère Studios from the

Lagardère Group Lagardère S.A. () is an international group with operations in over 40 countries. It is headquartered in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The group was created in 1992 as Matra, Hachette & Lagardère. Headed by Arnaud Lagardère, it is focused ...

for €100,000,000. The sale was completed on November 2 of that same year. On 30 October 2022, it was reported that Mediawan was in talks to acquiring in a significant stake Brad Pitt's studio

Plan B Entertainment Plan B Entertainment, Inc., more commonly known as Plan B, is an American production company founded in November in 2001 by Brad Grey, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston and Kristin Hahn. In 2005, after Pitt and Aniston divorced, Grey became the CEO o ...

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://mediawan.fr/ Mass media companies of France Companies based in Paris 2015 establishments in France Mass media in Paris