Gaspard de Chavagnac, the former Zodiak Media France boss, and ex-Endemol Shine Group international COO Marina Williams are teaming up with former Zodiak CEO Marc Antoine d’Halluin to launch Asacha Media Group.
Chavagnac and Williams and the founding partners and joint CEOs of the new venture, while d’Halluin is the third founding partner and will serve as Asacha’s non-executive vice-chairman. He remains CEO of Middle Eastern free-to-air satellite network MBC Group.
Asacha will be backed with investment from funds managed by U.S. company Oaktree Capital Management and will be headquartered in Paris, France. It will be focused on non-English language scripted film and television, but will also develop and produce reality shows, documentaries and children’s content.
As part of its launch, Asacha has taken minority stakes in three companies: Italian scripted firm Picomedia, Italian reality and children’s producer Stand By Me, and Mintee Studio, a French producer founded by de Chavagnac. Stand By Me’s founder Simona Ercolani will remain in charge of the producer but will also become Asacha’s chief creative officer of entertainment, factual and kids. Combined, the three companies have revenues of around €50M ($54M).
Asacha said it is “currently in negotiations” to acquire other companies and will look to partner with producers through joint-ventures and start-up funding. It will also look to exploit ad-hoc content investment opportunities.
De Chavagnac said: “Asacha Media Group’s aim is to become an international leader in content creation and production with the financial support and business development expertise of Oaktree.”
Williams added: “Asacha Media Group is building a powerful cross-border partnership of closely-aligned talent, who will each share a stake in the overall business. This model provides us with the expertise and geographical reach needed to deliver world-class content to a diversity of international platforms.”
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