Mediawan, the award-winning studio behind “Adolescence,” “F1” and “Miraculous,” has finalized its acquisition of Peter Chernin’s North Road.
Together, Mediawan and North Road will operate nearly 100 individual production companies representing over $2 billion in annual production volume across 15 countries, including the U.S., France, Germany, U.K., Italy, Spain, Australia, Mexico, and Turkey supported by a global distribution footprint, the companies stated in a joint release on Jan. 30. The acquisition was paid largely in stock and values North Road at roughly $900 million, according to The New York Times.
Chernin, a longtime media investor and former chairman of Fox who founded North Road in 2022, will join the board of Mediawan and will serve as non-executive chairman of North Road. Scott Manson will become CEO of the company.
North Road will serve as Mediawan’s North American hub. North Road’s leadership teams, labels, and creative partnerships will remain in place, said the companies. Jenno Topping will remain president of Chernin Entertainment. North Road’s media entities include Chernin Entertainment, led by David Ready; Chernin Entertainment Television, led by Kaitlin Dahill and Tracey Cook; Kinetic Content, led by Chris Coelen; Worlds + Pictures, led by Connor Schell; North Road Television Studio, led by Amy Israel; Perro Azul in Mexico City and Karga Seven in Istanbul.
Engineered by Mediawan’s CEO, co-founder and producer Pierre-Antoine Capton, the acquisition of North Roard will give the Paris-headquartered company a solid base in Hollywood and across English-speaking markets where it’s already built strong ties within the creative community, from Plan B’s Jeremy Kleiner and Dede Gardner, to See-Saw’s Iain Canning and SpringHill’s LeBron James
Since its launch a decade ago, Mediawan has built a strong portfolio through equity investments in over 80 companies like Plan B and See-Saw, as well as partnerships with LuckyChap and SpringHill.
More to come.