Telefonica concludes sale of ‘Big Brother’ TV group Endemol

[BGonaSTICK]

Spanish telecommunications group Telefonica said has concluded the sale of its 75 percent stake in Endemol, which invented the “Big Brother” television programme. The sale to a consortium, called Edam Acquisition, led by Italy’s Mediaset came at a cost of 2.6 billion euros (3.6 billion dollars). Mediaset is controlled by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s holding company Fininvest.

The consortium includes Mediaset’s Spanish media subsidiary Gestevision Telecinco, investment bank Goldman Sachs and Dutch investment company Cyrte which is headed by John de Mol, who co-founded Endemol.

Telefonica bought Endemol in March 2000 for 4.8 billion euros but the firm’s new board which took over later that year ruled it was a “non-strategic” asset as the company would focus on broadcasting rather than producing audovisual content.

De Mol established Endemol with fellow Dutch producer Joop van den Ende in 1994. The company shot to fame with its “Big Brother” format.

Source: Reuters