Herbert Smith Freehills advises Beyond International Limited on its proposed circa A$47.5m acquisition by Banijay Entertainment SAS

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has advised Beyond International Limited on its proposed acquisition by Banijay Entertainment SAS by scheme of arrangement. 

Beyond is an international content producer and distributor which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. The company has more than 5,000 hours of global television and includes MythBusters, White Rabbit Project, My Lottery Dream Home, Pooch Perfect, Love It Or List It Australia, Deadly Women, Troppo, and Halifax Retribution.

Banijay is an international content producer and distributor, with over 120 production companies across 22 territories, and a multi-genre catalogue boasting over 130,000 hours of programming. The group represents global brands including Survivor, Big Brother, Peaky Blinders, MasterChef, Rogue Heroes, Mr Bean, and Black Mirror.

Beyond and Banijay have entered into a Scheme Implementation Deed in which Banijay is proposed to acquire 100% of the share capital of Beyond by way of scheme of arrangement. It is anticipated that the transaction will close at the end of 2022 / beginning of 2023.

The HSF team was led by partner Nicole Pedler and supported by senior associate Hudson Archer and solicitor Raul Vellani.

Herbert Smith Freehills partner Nicole Pedler said, “It has been fantastic to work with Beyond on this important transaction, which will bring together two media and content businesses and enable Beyond to realise funds for its shareholders.”

HSF’s other market-leading work includes advising:

• Ramsay Health Care on its response to KKR’s $20 billion control proposal
• Brookfield on its acquisition of La Trobe Financial from Blackstone for $1.5 billion
• Reckon on its sale of its Accountants Practice Group to Access Group for $100 million
• TAL Dai-ichi Life Australia on its acquisition of Westpac’s life insurance business for $900 million and entry into a 20-year strategic alliance with Westpac