Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment is in advanced talks to sell a significant stake to Mediawan, the fast-rising French production and distribution group, Variety has confirmed.
Mediawan, which is financially backed by New York-based private equity firm KKR, is not the only bidder and negotiations are not exclusive at this point. Bloomberg first reported about the talks.
Founded in 2015 by Pierre-Antoine Capton, telecom billionaire Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse, the company has been ramping up its presence within the competitive English-language market through the acquisition (with Leonine Studios) of Drama Republic in the U.K. and recently announced a joint venture with “The Son” filmmaker Florian Zeller and former CAA executive Federica Sainte-Rose to launch an L.A.-based production vehicle called Blue Monday Pictures. Mediawan already boasts a strong presence in Europe with stakes in some of France’s most successful production banners, including Dimitri Rassam’s Chapter 2 (“The Three Musketeers”), Hugo Selignac’s Chi-Fou-Mi (“November”), ON Kids & Family (“Miraculous), Mon Voisin Production (“Call My Agent!”), and Italy’s Palomar (“The Name of the Rose”).
Plan B Entertainment, which is run by Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner, hired Moelis & Co. to shop for a buyer or potential investors last month. The company was founded in 2001 by Pitt and Jennifer Aniston shortly after the pair married. Pitt eventually took over the banner after the two divorced in 2005.
Plan B has a first-look deal for TV with Amazon Studios and a pact with MGM Studios for film. The company’s current roster includes “Blonde” with Ana de Armas, and “She Said.” Its other releases include “Moonlight,” “12 Years a Slave” and “The Departed.”
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