International M&A in 2022: key deals from UTA/Curtis Brown to Mediawan/Plan B & INOX/PVR

Elon Musk’s tentative $44 billion Twitter buyout and Warner Bros. merger with Discovery were the year’s most market-changing M&A deals, but outside the US, several key developments affected the global market.

Scroll through the gallery above to remember the other great M&A deals of 2022.

The agency world was rocked in June when UTA unexpectedly announced its acquisition of British literary and talent agent Curtis Brown Group, which our sources say is the first step in “Americanizing” the UK market. Look out for WME and CAA making moves in Europe soon.

UTA wasn’t the only North American company to join the European management shakeup, as we revealed in March that Lionsgate had taken a minority stake in London’s 42, which includes Jesse Armstrong, Julian Fellowes, Claire Denis and Charlie Brooker represent.

But it was not all Americans who took over European companies. On the contrary in the case of the French Mediawan, best known as the company behind Netflix Call my agent, when it shocked the world later in the year by acquiring a controlling interest in Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment. France has a complex relationship with the international market despite hosting the biggest film and television events, but is emerging as a European powerhouse as Mediawan, Banijay, Asacha Media Group and Newen Connect continue to gain strength and companies buy.

In super-indie land, Fremantle made the most news. Tasked with parent company RTL to double its revenue to €3 billion ($3.2 billion) by 2025 Got talent The creator has acquired several prominent indie companies, including popular Irish drama company Element Pictures, producer of BBC3 and Hulu’s normal people and conversations with friends. Banijay, which rose to prominence when it became part of Stephane Courbit-owned FL Entertainment, is in the process of buying Australian producer distributor Beyond International and acquiring producers in places like Israel.

Meanwhile, ITV Studios spent $103.5 million to buy natural history producer Plimsoll Productions earlier this year. When Mipcom returned to Cannes in October, news emerged claiming that part of ITV’s production and distribution division was up for sale. Nothing concrete has followed, and several M&A and producer sources believe the story was a red herring intended to remind the stock market how well ITV Studios – and by extension ITV – has done despite a share price that has fallen significantly this year.

Several other deals went through. There was speculation that All3Media might be in the game after co-parent Discovery merged with Warner Bros., but nothing came of it and the super-indie went largely unnoticed for the rest of the year. Next year may bring more clarity.

Perhaps the most significant non-mover was the merger of French broadcasters TF1 and M6, which almost merged until local market regulators shot them dead. Executives on both sides said the move was a major blow to local networks’ battle against international streaming rivals locked in the notoriously protective French market.

Looking ahead to 2023, there are several deals to watch, including the potential sale of UK companies Hat Trick Productions and Greenbird Media. The former has linked All3 and Fremantle, while the latter, according to informed sources, is one of the emerging European groups likely to be buyers – another reason why we are targeting Asacha, Mediawan and German Night to carefully train media. Rumors continue to link Canada’s Cineflix Media to a sale, but nothing has yet been finalized and Fremantle may still be in business, although sources indicate that may be over for now.