Sources close to the situation confirmed that discussions with News Corp were "progressing well," although a deal was "not yet inevitable." Shine is thought to be worth between £600m and
£800m. Elisabeth Murdoch owns 60% of Shine, while Sony has 20% and BSkyB 13%. The rest is owned by the production company's management. Shine, which owns the lucrative MasterChef franchise,
has received a number of approaches in recent months and News Corp, which is also currently trying to acquire the 61% it does not already own of BSkyB, was not the only group with which it had held
talks.
The UK production market has proved interesting to U.S. players including Time Warner and NBC Universal, with Time Warner recently acquiring Shed Media. There are also a number of
production groups expected to come on to the market, including Permira's All3Media and Endemol.
advertisement
advertisement
Read the whole story at The Telegraph »
