Lionel Uzan Succeeding Pascal Breton As President Of Federation Studios As Montefiore Ups Stake

Federation Studios‘ Lionel Uzan is taking the reins at the French entertainment giant with Pascal Breton stepping back, as Montefiore Investments becomes a majority shareholder. Federation, which had been seeking a huge cash injection of hundreds of millions of euros for the past couple of years, will have a new structure with an increase of capital whereby Montefiore, which previously had a 33% stake, becomes a majority shareholder alongside other financial investors. At this point the group will “refocus its strategy on its most promising markets, and on scripted content,” it said today. Watch on Deadline According to Federation, the new structure will “strengthen” its “equity base and significantly reduce its debt level.” Federation declined comment on financials or how much of a stake Montefiore now has. Breton, who founded Federation more than a decade ago, is becoming chairman of the supervisory board while Uzan, who joined in 2015, succeeds him as President. Uzan will be supported by an executive board comprising Éric Broet, Cosette Liebgott, Simona Rapino and Chiraz Zribi. Co-MD Marco Chimenz left earlier this year. Federation stressed that Breton “remains fully involved in the group’s development as both a shareholder and producer.” The Montefiore move represents a U-turn from what bosses told Deadline last year. In 2025, when they signaled they were seeking hundreds of millions in investment, Breton told us: “We have 55 producers [within the company] and feel we can double that in the next two to three years, so we want to replace Montefiore and find a stronger partner for the future.” At that point bosses declined to say how much of a stake they wanted to sell in Federation but were valuing the business at around the €500M to €600M ($554M to $665M) mark. Montefiore invested €50M in Federation in 2021. BNP Paribas and Bpifrance are also minority investors. Federation owns a whole range of indies around Europe and has in recent years pivoted to big English-language projects like A Tale of Two Cities, Around the World in 80 Days and a planned Gulliver’s Travels. It is also behind French hit The Bureau and Showtime’s subsequent U.S. remake The Agency, on which Breton was an EP amongst the likes of George Clooney. Last month, kids TV veteran David Michel bought back control of Find Me in Paris maker Cottonwood Media from Federation. Federation has operations across Paris, Berlin, Cologne, L.A., London, Madrid, Rome and Tel-Aviv.