Exclusive-"Big Brother" owner Banijay in talks with All3Media owner to merge TV production units, sources say

By Amy-Jo Crowley and Hadeel Al Sayegh LONDON/DUBAI, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Banijay Group, the French media company that owns "Big Brother," is in talks with All3Media-owner RedBird IMI about merging their TV production businesses, two people familiar with the situation told Reuters. Discussions have centred on merging Banijay's Entertainment & Live unit, which also owns "MasterChef," with All3Media, the producer of hit TV show "The Traitors," the people said. A merger would create one of Europe's largest production groups, with a slate of shows including "Survivor", "Peaky Blinders" and "Race Across the World."  Both companies have sought potential combinations with other producers in recent years, Reuters has previously reported according to sources, as TV and film production companies build scale against the growing dominance of streaming giants Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video.   A potential deal would likely include All3Media injecting funds into the combined entity because it is the smaller of the two, one of the sources said.  Talks began towards the end of last year after Amsterdam-listed Banijay dropped its pursuit of Britain's ITV Studios and they are now at an advanced stage, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is private. However, the sources cautioned that no agreement has been reached and there is no certainty a deal will happen.  Redbird IMI, Banijay and All3Media declined to comment. ($1 = 0.8569 euros) (Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley in London and Hadeel Al Sayegh in Dubai, with additional reporting by Paul Sandle and Mathieu Rosemain. Editing by Elisa Martinuzzi and Anousha Sakoui.)

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