Mediawan : acquired the majority of Palomar, first independent Italian producer of TV content

Press release

Tuesday, 15 january 2019

5.45 PM

Mediawan has signed final agreements to acquire a majority stake in Palomar, the first independent Italian producer of TV content, and accelerates its international development

Mediawan (MDW) has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Palomar, the first independent Italian producer of TV series, movies and documentaries with the ambition to reinforce their European synergies in terms of co-production and co-distribution.

Founded in 1986, Palomar is the leading independent player on the Italian fiction market, having notably produced more than 100 productions including the Emmy nominated tv series "Detective Montalbano", the most successful prime time TV dramas, recording the highest audience in Italy for the past 20 years.

Palomar productions in 2018 represented a total value of more than €40 million and domestic and international premieres in 2019 will include top titles like the new season of "Detective Montalbano" and "I Delitti del Barlume" as well as the movies "La Paranza dei Bambini" - unique Italian movie selected in competition at 2019 Berlin film Festival - and the global blockbuster TV series "The Name of the Rose", starring John Turturro, Rupert Everett and Michael Emerson.

Mediawan will acquire the majority stake with 72% of Palomar shares, the other 28% remaining in the hands of Mr. Carlo Degli Esposti, Palomar's founder and CEO. Acquisition will use Mediawan's undrawn credit facilities and issuance of new Mediawan shares to Palomar's top management. Pursuant to the transaction, Mr. Degli Esposti and Mr. Serra, Palomar's managing director, should receive approximately 680,000 Mediawan ordinary shares.

Several cooperation projects are already in development, like the Italian version of the TV series "Call my agent", coproduction on "Detective Montalbano" further episodes and the western international TV series "The Dirty Black Bag". This alliance is the natural outcome of a common vision of production and will contribute to support and accelerate the international development of Italian contents' productions. This acquisition will also enable Mediawan to strengthen its relationships with Italian broadcasters and multiply the format adaptation opportunities for its contents having potential on the Italian market.

"Mediawan is thrilled to see this union materialise in a partnership towards the development of strong synergies, preserving Palomar's identity, brand, and talents", says Pierre-Antoine Capton, founder of Mediawan.

After a strong track record of consolidating the French production industry and the implementation of a new organization in 2018, Mediawan is making its first strategic acquisition outside of France, paving the way for the acceleration of its international development.

"I'm proud to sign this agreement with Mediawan, an excellence in the European audiovisual market, that fulfils my aim to make Palomar everlasting. Mediawan and Palomar share a common approach towards the quality of productions as well as the ambition to achieve a crucial international growth maintaining Palomar's management team and its editorial touch" says Carlo Degli Esposti, founder and

CEO of Palomar.

"Thanks to this partnership Palomar will consolidate and accelerate its international development", says Nicola Serra, managing director of Palomar.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2019.

Mediawan retained BNP Paribas as exclusive financial advisor for this transaction.

About Mediawan

Mediawan was incorporated in December 2015 as a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) by Pierre Antoine Capton, Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse, and the following year raised €250 million through an IPO on the Euronext regulated market in Paris. Mediawan has carried out 7 strategic acquisitions since March 2017, thus consolidating a new independent player in audiovisual content with a leading position in Europe. The Group operates on 4 segments: the production of original fiction and documentary content, the running of animated brands, the distribution of audiovisual content and the publishing of channels and digital services.

Mediawan, an independent European audiovisual content platform is listed on Euronext Paris Compartment B.

Eligible to PEA-PME - ISIN: FR0013247137 - Ticker: MDW

About Palomar

Palomar, founded by Carlo Degli Esposti in 1986, is one of the oldest independent Italian television and cinema production companies, a market leader in Italy in the drama sector for the main domestic and international TV networks.

Since its inception, Palomar has worked across television and cinema, producing dramas, docudramas, movies, information programs and entertainment, providing some of the most successful prime-time TV dramas of the last ten years. For TV, amongst other titles, Palomar is the producer of Italian language shows like Detective Montalbano, the Young Montalbano, Red Band Society, Murders at Barlume and Maltese and English language international shows like The Name of The Rose, premiere March 2019,

Gheddafi and The Dirty Black Bag now in development. On the film side, the company has produced award-winning movies like Leopardi, Feather, the Fury of the Patient Man, The Happy Prince and La Paranza dei Bambini, in competition at 2019 Berlin film Festival.

Contacts:

Press: Majorelle PR & Events

Investors & Analysts:

Clara Devoret [e-mail]
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Victoria Rey [e-mail] -	Newcap [e-mail]
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Aurélie [e-mail]