10:45 p.m., June 27, 2020
During the confinement period, Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse met weekly for lunch in the sun on the terrace of Pierre-Antoine Capton’s office, on the seventh floor of the new Mediawan headquarters, avenue de Suffren in Paris. It was there that the three partners also finalized, on the night of Sunday, June 21 to Monday, June 22, no less than six simultaneous financial transactions, including the plan to buy Lagardère Studios from the Lagardère group (owner of the JDD). This is where they received us on Friday to explain their strategy.
What do you want to do with Mediawan?
Pierre-Antoine Capton. The world of content is consolidating all over the world. Mediawan’s project is to bring together the best European talents to tell stories in all their forms: animation, documentaries, TV series, films, and to distribute them all over the world. given the means to create an ambitious group.
Xavier Niel. This group has grown rapidly: we have aggregated in the space of three years nearly 25 production companies. And other acquisitions are to come.
Matthieu Pigasse. I remember the doubts that accompanied the launch of Mediawan in 2016 when we announced a target of 1.5 billion euros in financial strike force. We have achieved our goals. Now we want to do much more in the years to come.
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P-A.C. The demand for programs is exploding around the world. The series have gained in quality. The French series no longer resemble those of ten years ago. All channels need content that requires large investments. Faced with them, we need producers who have strong kidneys.
X.N. And it’s local content that these American platforms badly need. Either by legal obligation, or simply because they need to sell to our parents or our children local series that speak to them.
M.P. Especially since, when the local product is of quality, it is exported all over the world. This is the case of the series of Dominique Besnehard, Ten percent, (Call My Agent in English) or the animated series Miraculous Ladybug, which is a worldwide success…
P-A.C. Miraculous Ladybug, created by Jeremy Zag and Aton Soumache, it is soon a film with a budget of 60 million euros distributed worldwide and an amusement park in China, where we signed a partnership. Go to any toy store in Brazil and you will find Ladybug figurines. Our idea is to develop strong brands capable of being exported all over the world. And what is great is that we were able to set up this project from France.
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We want to find the right ideas and the best talents
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Do you aspire to be a leader in Europe?
P-A.C. We are fortunate to be associated everywhere with local champions, in France, Italy, Spain and soon in Germany. All these producers will create global brands together. The success of The Paper House is in this regard the symbol of a series that was intended for a local market in the catalog of Netflix, before becoming the best known series in the world.
X.N. A few years ago, 99% of series production was within a radius of 100 kilometers around Los Angeles, today we are producing worldwide success all over the world. Without limit of territories. Our vocation is to make series, and not only, for all markets and all audiences. And very, very, high-end, when necessary.
M.P. We want to find the right ideas and the best talent. An example: we have just acquired with Simon Istolainen the rights to Civilizations, Laurent Binet’s bestseller. It goes through an association with an American partner. And it will be a worldwide success. I bet you.
P-A.C. Projects like this, we have several. And the Americans are not mistaken. Our French and international partners are delighted and let us know.
X.N. We are building an incredible catalog of 25,000 hours of programs. We continue for example to sell very well Hélène and the boys in many markets.
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What is the objective of the operations you have just announced?
P-A.C. The objective is to strengthen the control of the three founders over the group, to anchor it in France and to give itself more resources. Other French partners will also join us.
M.P. Xavier, Pierre-Antoine and I own 20% of the capital. What we want is a French anchor, for a European society whose ambition is global. The share of turnover outside France increased from 21% to 37% between 2018 and 2019.
X.N. At the end of the takeover bid, we want to control Mediawan, which is not necessarily intended to exit the stock market. We offer a 40% premium on the last quoted price, we are confident about the success of the operation.
How do you manage acquisitions? Who decides?
M.P. Mediawan is a force of attraction. We attract a certain number of talents or producers to us.
P-A.C. It is not necessarily the amount of the check that acquires. The relationship of trust is essential.
How do you lead in three?
X.N. We don’t lead in threes. With Matthieu, we are only co-controllers.
P-A.C. Everything works on trust from day one. We talk about everything and all the time.
You have overcome the difficulties that have opposed you in the case of World?
M.P. It is not the turbulence that prevents the plane from flying and arriving at its destination.
X.N. We work together for and in the long term.
What are the main trends that you observe on the audiovisual market?
P-A.C. Besides the omnipotence of series, there is a boom in documentaries: a genre of which we have become one of the biggest producers.
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We must strengthen our partnership with the chains
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After the Covid crisis, is the TV channel market starting again?
P-A.C. The market has been hit hard. With less advertising revenue, channels will order fewer programs. We must strengthen our partnership with the chains. And all of us help us get through this crisis.
X.N. Our luck is to have brands that respond to this problem and which are leaders in terms of audience on channels: The Red Bracelets, The Purple Rivers, The Savages, Alice Nevers, or Ten percent.
Do you plan to invest elsewhere than in audiovisual content?
X.N. No. Our core business is “scripted”, content written for the audiovisual sector. With Lagardère Studios and Third Eye, we would add an activity of programs and programs called “streams”.
P-A.C. And the more we will be a major player in Europe, the more it will allow us to bring to the channels, hard hit by the Covid crisis in Europe, co-productions and new financial resources.
What did you watch, confined to each other, on television during the crisis?
P-A.C. C to you, every evening, that I have the chance to produce!
M.P. Tiger King: a masterful documentary on Netflix. American decadence in its purest form. I devoured it.
X.N. I watched the last season of Ten percent that you will see at the start of the school year. Excellent.
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