Endeavor Acquires Asylum Entertainment Group As Founder Steve Michaels Plans Major Non-Scripted M&A Drive
07.03.2023 - 20:05
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Endeavor is putting its money into non-scripted television. The company, which owns WME, IMG and UFC, has acquired Asylum Entertainment Group, the unscripted production company led by Steve Michaels, with plans to “supercharge” its footprint with a major M&A drive.
Deadline understands that through its strategic investment, Endeavor is investing millions into the company in order to give it the financing and resources to buy up a number of non-scripted production companies and build it into a major non-fiction group.
We’ve heard that Michaels has already been scouting out potential acquisitions and is in talks for a nine-figure deal.
It becomes the latest major Hollywood player plotting to roll up non-scripted producers in order to give it size and scale; Sony has been on a drive since it acquired Industrial Media, the company behind American Idol and 90 Day Fiancé, in a $350M deal last year and the likes of Banijay and Fremantle has been acquisitive in this space.
Asylum operates several labels including The Content Group, Texas Crew Productions, Big City TV, Breaklight Pictures and Audity and is behind series including Discovery+’s Hillsong: A Mega Church Exposed, TNT’s Shaq Life and AMC’s Eli Roth’s History of Horror as well as multiple 30 for 30s for ESPN.
It was originally formed by Michaels in 2003 and sold to Legendary Entertainment for $100M in 2014. Michaels bought it back in 2018 and restored the original brand name in 2019.
The Content Group, Texas Crew Productions, Big City TV, Breaklight Pictures and Audity will now become part of Endeavor’s non-scripted content division, which will be led by Rebecca Sanhueza in a new role.
Sanhueza, who was EVP of Content Strategy & Development, now also