A deal to acquire a powerhouse Playa Vista-based studio is the latest installment in Hollywood’s consolidation saga.
Former Fox Group chairman Peter Chernin’s multi-label North Road Co. – responsible for the “Planet of the Apes” franchise, a slew of Academy Award-nominated features and the hit reality show “Love is Blind” – was sold to leading French studio Mediawan.
Mediawan’s second North American deal brings the two production giants’ combined annual volume to $2 billion across almost 100 independent companies spanning 15 countries, including the U.S., France, Germany, the U.K., Spain, Italy, Australia, Mexico and Turkey.
Finances for the acquisition, announced Jan. 30, were not disclosed, and neither company responded to requests for comment. The deal, paid mostly in stock, valued North Road at roughly $900 million, the New York Times reported.
Mediawan, led by veteran TV producer Pierre-Antoine Capton, first drew the U.S. into its global expansion spree in 2022 when it acquired Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment. Last year, it snagged a 51% majority stake in British-Australian indie production shop See-Saw Films, known for the thriller series “Slow Horses,” and formed a joint venture with Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment.
As the French studio’s North America hub, North Road will contribute its portfolio across scripted and unscripted content from affiliate media entities including Mexican studio Perro Azul, Kinetic Content, Words + Pictures, Karga Seven and Two One Five Entertainment.
Chernin, who founded North Road in 2022, will stay as the firm’s non-executive chairman and join Mediawan’s board. North Road will also keep its chief executive, Scott Manson, previously of SB Projects and HYBE America.
A competitive edge
In a statement following the announcement, Chernin reflected on a career of following the entertainment industry’s trajectory into today’s streaming era – recently propelled by Netflix’s landmark Warner Bros. Discovery buy.
“The platforms have all become global buyers,” Chernin said. “It’s time for a global content company with leadership in geographies all over the world to maximize the potential of this new landscape.”
With North Road under its wing, Mediawan is hoping to strengthen its position as a “trusted partner” to streaming platforms and content distributors, Capton said in a statement.
The acquisition will allow the studios to compete more closely with legacy media companies for streaming deals, said Tom Nunan, a former studio head and co-head of the graduate producers’ program at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.
“The endgame I see with Mediawan taking controlling interest in Plan B and recently doing this gigantic consolidation with North Road is they want to be a meaningful player in English-language content around the world,” he said.
Chernin’s independent labels are among the few with the credibility and ambition needed to consistently deliver sought-after content, Nunan said. Mediawan’s backing is a vote of confidence in North Road’s future projects, he said, and a win-win deal offering the latter capital without sacrificing its independence.
“It’s not just the money that North Road is getting from Mediawan; it’s the access North Road has to other financing engines to finance their own content,” Nunan said. “One plus one – Mediawan plus North Road – equals three. The total is greater than the sum its parts.”
