Fremantle to Buy Asacha, Owner of ‘Death in Paradise,’ ‘Happening,’ ‘The Sea Beyond’ Producers
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Global production giant Fremantle is still hungry. On Tuesday the Bertelsmann-controlled group signed a deal for another major acquisition, entering into a conditional purchase agreement to take control of Asacha Media Group, a private-equity-backed company that owns several high-profile production companies in the U.K., France, and Italy.
The acquisition of Asacha Media Group follows Fremantle’s recent deal to take an 80 percent stake in Singapore-based TV group Beach House Pictures. The investment in the two companies will cost Fremantle parent company RTL Group $217 million (€200 million), RTL Group said Tuesday.
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Asacha’s production portfolio includes France’s Srab Films, producer of Venice winner Happening and official French Oscar contenders Les Misérables and Saint Omar; Picomedia, producer of hit Italian drama series The Sea Beyond; and British group Red Planet Pictures, known for such series as Death in Paradise and Life on Mars. Other Asacha-owned companies part of the Fremantle deal are France’s Kabo Family and Mintee, Italian group Stand By Me, and Wag and Arrow Media in the U.K.
Paris-based Asacha was set up in 2020 by Gaspard de Chavagnac and Marina Williams and Marc-Antoine d’Halluin with backing from Oaktree Capital Management and quickly bought up multiple companies to create a pan-European portfolio.
The Asacha deal, which is still subject to customary closing conditions, was spearheaded by Fremantle’s Group COO and CEO Continental Europe, Andrea Scrosati. Lazard and Mayer Brown advised for Asacha Media Group and Oaktre, CMS for Fremantle.
Scrosati said with Asacha, de Chavagnac, Williams, and d’Halluin had built “an impressive portfolio of market-leading labels, each of which perfectly complements our existing businesses in each of their markets. This strategic deal underlines both companies’ ambitious growth targets, and we look forward to collaborating with their immensely talented creatives across the group.”
De Chavagnac will continue to run Asacha, together with chief content officer Marina Williams, reporting to Scrosati.
“I am thrilled about this deal with Fremantle, one of the world’s leading studios for television and movie production,” said de Chavagnac. “Fremantle will bring all its expertise and resources in premium content development and distribution, to accelerate the growth of our fantastic creative labels.”
Mario Adario, Asacha’s Chairman and Managing Director at Oaktree Capital Management said in fewer than four years, “Asacha has become a leader in the media industry under the stewardship of an exceptional team. We believe Fremantle is the right partner for the next chapter of Asacha’s growth.”
The acquisition of Asacha Media Group is part of a buying spree by Fremantle, which has in recent years acquired Irish production company Element Pictures, producers of Oscar-nominated Poor Things, the U.K.’s Dancing Ledge Productions (The Responder), Italian company Lux Vide (Devils), Bosch producer Fabel (Bosch), and Brit group, 72 Films (All or Nothing: Arsenal) among many others.
With the acquisitions of Asacha Media Group and Beach House Pictures, said Bertelsmann and RTL Group CEO Thomas Rabe, “Fremantle is well on track to reach its €3 billion ($3.25 billion) revenue target [by 2025].”
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