MEDIAWAN AND PLAN B ENTERTAINMENT JOIN FORCES TO CREATE GLOBAL PRODUCTION PLATFORM

Mediawan and Plan B's innovative partnership will fuel global ambitions to unveil a compelling slate of diverse projects across film, television, audio, and more

PARIS and HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Dec. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mediawan, a leading independent premium content studio in Europe led by Pierre-Antoine Capton, and Plan B Entertainment, an award-winning US based production company co-founded and led by Brad Pitt, along with co-presidents Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, announce today that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Mediawan to acquire a significant stake in Plan B. 

By joining forces with Plan B, Mediawan expands beyond its core European markets into the US.

Plan B's impressive body of film work includes, The Tree of Life, Eat Pray Love, World War Z, 12 Years a Slave, Selma, The Big Short, Moonlight, Okja, and Minari. Recent film projects include, Andrew Dominik's Blonde for Netflix, Maria Schrader's She Said for Universal Pictures, Sarah Polley's Women Talking for MGM's Orion Pictures, Bong Joon-Ho'sMickey 17 for Warner Brothers, David Michod's forthcoming film Wizards for A24, Cory Finley's forthcoming Landscape With Invisible Hand for MGM, and RaMell Ross's The Nickel Boys for MGM's Orion Pictures.

Plan B has also recently ramped up its television work with a wide range of projects including BAFTA and Peabody-winning The Underground Railroad, the Josh Brolin-starrer Outer Range for Amazon, Clea DuVall and Tegan & Sara's High School for Amazon's Freevee, Lego Masters for FOX, a second season of Feud in partnership with Ryan Murphy for FX, and the upcoming Three Body Problem, from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and Alex Woo, for Netflix.

Mediawan is one of the premiere independent European studios producing audiovisual content and feature films. Its best-known titles include International Emmy award-wining Call My Agent! starring Camille Cottin for FranceTV and Netflix, Hugo Blick'sThe English starring Emily Blunt for BBC and Amazon, Oscar and Golden Globes nominated The life Ahead starring Sophia Lorren for Netflix, French blockbusters Novembre starring Jean Dujardin and the Stronghold for Studiocanal, That Dirty Black Bag starring Douglas Booth and Dominic Cooper for AMC, as well as a strong line up with forthcoming Django for Canal+ and Sky, One Day for Netflix, The Three Musketeers for Pathé, and Miraculous the movie with Zag. 

The company was co-founded by Pierre-Antoine Capton, Xavier Niel, and Matthieu Pigasse, and is supported by its founders and its strategic partners, including KKR and Atwater Capital, which is led by Vania Schlogel.

As leaders in independent production in Europe and the United States, this unprecedented partnership between Mediawan and Plan B will create valuable synergies across talent development and IP acquisition and continue to build on an already strong content slate with a look to an increasingly global audience. Plan B's consistent ability to work with top-tier talent from across the world, coupled with the original and existing IP they have brought to the big and small screen, will, in combination with Mediawan's similarly established relationships and now this strategic investment, cultivate a greater number of immensely talented creators and premium projects for a global viewership.

"This partnership will allow us to create a unique artistic link between Europe and the United States through which we and Plan B will develop premium independent content, providing a global platform on which the world's greatest talent can continue to thrive. We would like to thank Brad, Dede, and Jeremy for their trust and recognition of the world-class content emanating from our work in Europe," said Pierre-Antoine Capton, CEO and Co-Founder of Mediawan.

Plan B partners Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner, added: "We have loved working together for nearly two-decades and are incredibly excited about our future. As we enter the next chapter in our evolution, we are excited at the possibilities this partnership affords as we maximize our reach toward an increasingly global audience with a broad range of films and television series across all platforms, genres, and mediums. For our current partner studios, along with those we look forward to working with in the future, we pledge to continue producing new content for audiences everywhere. With the innovative, artistic and producer-centric platform Mediawan has built, we open a window to an even greater number of storytellers, both established masters and the emerging voices that have always excited us."

The acquisition by Mediawan is consistent with the group's expansion strategy beyond Europe into English-speaking markets to develop international productions and bring together the world's greatest talents wherever they want to work. A strategy, supported by Mediawan's shareholders: KKR, Atwater Capital, Bpifrance, MACSF, and Société Générale, that all participate in the financing of this operation through a capital increase.

The three partners in Plan B also enter the capital of Mediawan as part of the acquisition.

The investment in Plan B will be made via a newly created entity, Mediawan US, which will coordinate Mediawan's activities and future developments in the US. The Board of Mediawan US will be chaired by Vania Schlogel, with Pierre-Antoine Capton as CEO. 

Mediawan US will hold significant stakes in Plan B as well as in Blue Morning Pictures, the production company launched in 2022 by Mediawan with Oscar winning filmmakers Florian Zeller and Federica Sainte-Rose.

Vania Schlogel, Founder and Managing Partner at Atwater Capital, and future Chairwoman of the Mediawan US Board, said: "Plan B has an exceptional track record of supporting and celebrating remarkable global storytellers. For a number of years now, I've been fortunate enough to witness first-hand the vision of Pierre-Antoine Capton and the wider Mediawan team as they've built one of the most creative and dynamic independent production-distribution groups in the world. I can't think of a better partner for Plan B as it enters this exciting new phase of growth." 

Philipp Freise, Partner and Co-head of European Private Equity at KKR and Franziska Kayser, Managing Director at KKR, commented: "Under the leadership of Pierre-Antoine, Mediawan has established itself at the center of quality content production in Europe. Building leading businesses in this sector has long been a vision for KKR, with the take private of Mediawan as well as the founding of LEONINE Studios. We are delighted to see Mediawan and Plan B join forces to continue our mission of creating the leading artist-centric global independent content platform, the first of its kind on such an international scale. We welcome Brad, Jeremy, and Dede to the shareholdership and look forward to collaborating with them to continue this unique success story."

Moelis & Company served as lead financial advisor, Willkie Farr & Gallagher served as legal advisor, and CAA served as advisors to Plan B. Brillstein Entertainment served as advisor to Brad Pitt. Centerview Partners acted as financial advisors and Latham & Watkins acted as legal advisor to Mediawan. BNP Paribas served as advisor to the cofounders of Mediawan. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Created in late 2015 by Pierre-Antoine Capton, Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse, Mediawan is one of the main independent European studios producing audiovisual content. The Group brings together best-in-class talents in audiovisual creation by operating on the entire value chain: production of drama, unscripted, documentary, cinema and animated original content, thanks to over 60 production labels in France, Germany (partnership with LEONINE Studios since 2020), England, Italy, Spain, the United-States, the Netherlands, Finland and Senegal (Mediawan Studios), distribution of audiovisual content (Mediawan Rights, LS Distribution and Telmondis Distribution) and publishing of channels and digital services (Mediawan Thematics) as well as the development and production of digital content (Mediawan Digital). Contacts: Juleanna Glover, juleanna@ridgelywalsh.com, +1 202 288 2076; Quitterie Lemasson, qlemasson@mediawan.eu, +33785731182;

Headed by Brad Pitt and co-presidents Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Plan B Entertainment is a long-standing film and television production company. Their film work includes: The Tree of Life, Eat Pray Love, World War Z, 12 Years a Slave, Selma, The Big Short, Moonlight, Beautiful Boy, If Beale Street Could Talk, Vice, Ad Astra, The King, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Irresistible, Kajillionaire, Minari, a reimagination of Father of the Bride, and Blonde. Alongside their filmography, their acclaimed television work includes: The Underground Railroad, Outer Range, High School, Paper Girls, The Third Day, Feud: Bette and Joan, The Normal Heart, Sweetbitter, and The OA. Their acclaimed television work includes the Peabody Award winning and Emmy-nominated The Underground Railroad, Outer Range, High School, Paper Girls, BAFTA-nominated The Third Day, Emmy-nominated Feud: Bette and Joan, Emmy-winning The Normal Heart, Sweetbitter, and The OA. The company has a first-look feature film production deal with the Warner Bros. Pictures Group, and a second-look features deal at MGM. Their overall first-look deal for television is with Amazon Prime Video. Contact: Anna Yang, a.yang@planb-la.com

Focused exclusively on the Media and Entertainment sectors, Atwater was founded with the vision of uniting the valuable creative aspects of evaluating investments and growing companies with deep operational and financial expertise under one roof and one team. Going against the status quo of traditionally segregating these critical activities, Atwater seeks to extract the synergies of applying quantitative rigor to creative strategy on behalf of our portfolio companies and stakeholders.

Atwater brings a track record of excellence in operational and financial strategy in order to deliver tangible results. Whether through optimizing operational processes, unlocking business development opportunities, delivering an extensive network of influencers to create authentic messaging, or digitizing away from ineffective and capital-intensive traditional branding activities — Atwater brings nimble and disruptive strategies to our investments. Contact: Lindsey Nevarez, ln@atwater-capital.com

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR's insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR's investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR's website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co. Contact: Annabel Arthur, annabel.arthur@kkr.com, +44 7554 919 491

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SOURCE Mediawan