Brad Pitt’s Plan B Leisure acquired by Mediawan

Brad Pitt’s Plan B Leisure, the acclaimed Hollywood producer behind Moonlight and The Massive Quick, has been purchased by France’s Mediawan in a uncommon transatlantic deal that values the US group at greater than $300mn in money and shares.

Pitt advised the Monetary Instances that the Oscar-winning firm he co-founded within the early 2000s was “already bulging out of the seams of our little storage” and was able to develop with the backing of Mediawan, a content material group backed by three of France’s most distinguished media traders.

“We weren’t going to do that except we discovered like-minded companions. We definitely really feel that method with Mediawan,” Pitt mentioned. “Now we have at all times simply targeting the craft, the artwork, the artisans, and the chance to have the ability to do this in a grander and extra world method is thrilling for us.”

Mediwan’s acquisition of one of the vital prized belongings in Hollywood’s unbiased manufacturing sector represents probably the most important French dealmaking foray into Hollywood since Vivendi’s acquisition of Common Studios in 2001. 

The privately held Mediawan, whose titles embrace Name My Agent and The Three Musketeers, was based in 2015 by the telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel, funding banker Matthieu Pigasse and tv government Pierre-Antoine Capton. It has grown quickly in Europe in recent times by snapping up small to mid-sized manufacturing homes in locations from Spain to Germany, and is now making its first foray into the US. 

Chief government Pierre-Antoine Capton solid the deal as a strategic shift as Mediawan seeks to go world. “Plan B is the very best unbiased producer within the US, so I wouldn’t have wished the rest to assist us develop,” he advised the FT. 

Throughout a manufacturing increase the place Hollywood has been awash with frothy takeover affords, Plan B has stood out as a much-envied asset with a constant document of creating high-quality, award-winning movies, in addition to tv collection for Amazon and Netflix. 

Three of its motion pictures — The Departed, 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight — received Oscars for Finest Image. Latest releases embrace the Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde for Netflix and the drama She Stated on the autumn of Harvey Weinstein.

Requested whether or not the latest spate of high-valuation offers had satisfied him to promote, Pitt replied “sure and no”. 

“I really feel just like the gold rush has stagnated to some extent. It has gone the opposite method,” he mentioned. “So a lot of these breathtaking offers nonetheless must show themselves. We wished in fact to be valued pretty. We felt Mediawan did that.” 

Neither Plan B nor Mediawan would disclose particulars of the transaction. However individuals accustomed to the matter advised the FT that the deal valued Plan B in extra of $300mn, with Mediawan shopping for a majority stake within the group now and the remainder at a later stage. 

The sellers will likely be paid half in shares of Mediawan and half in money. Mediawan’s current shareholders, which embrace personal fairness group KKR and France’s BPI state-backed funding fund, will all participate in a capital enhance to keep away from dilution. 

The deal construction signifies that Pitt and his companions Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, who run Plan B each day, are incentivised to stay with the group since they may share in any worth creation. 

The fee partly in shares helped average the premium Mediawan paid for Plan B, which was valued at round 15 instances its annual underlying revenue of greater than $10mn, mentioned one of many individuals. 

Capton acknowledged it was essential for Mediawan to not “soar in blindly” given the chequered historical past European traders have had in Hollywood over the a long time. However he famous the rise of non-English language content material on streamers, together with exhibits resembling Lupin, had opened new alternatives for European gamers.

“The important thing to the success of Mediawan is leaving all producers unbiased to do their work. Plan B has glorious outcomes, they make the very best motion pictures . . . it’s actually working properly with out me!” he mentioned. “I’m not dreaming of getting an workplace in a tower in Hollywood or to be some type of mogul.”

Kleiner, who joined Plan B in 2003, mentioned there was “a cultural match and understanding”.

“We do wish to develop and we do wish to make extra stuff however we have to do it in an atmosphere that preserves our DNA,” he mentioned. “Scale and high quality is a difficult factor to handle and we prefer to suppose we’ve been respectable at it in recent times.” 

Like all unbiased film producers, Plan B has been grappling with a tougher marketplace for unbiased movies on the cinema. “Anybody wanting on the field workplace this fall has to concentrate to what’s taking place,” mentioned Gardner, the primary girl to win two Oscars for Finest Image.

“We educated everybody to observe motion pictures in a different way, from dwelling, in an effort to get via the pandemic. It’s pure that it’ll take a while for that to return . . . I hope it’ll.”

Pitt performed down the prospects of Plan B making French-language motion pictures. Whereas he owns a vineyard and château in Provence and has spoken French in some motion pictures, he confused that was because of the wonders of lip sync. “That required looping my buddy,” he mentioned. “A whole lot of loops.”