UK production company RDF Media Group has accepted a GBP52m (USD80m) buyout offer from a consortium comprising its management and Dutch media mogul John de Mol.
Under the terms of the proposals, RDF will be taken over by a vehicle called Bidco. The shareholders in Bidco are RDF's management, with a 24% stake, and Dasym, an entity managed by De Mol's firm Cyrte Investments. The offer of GBP1.2 per share represents a premium of about 73% to the stock's closing price on the day the offer was made.
David Frank, RDF chief exec, will personally control 9.5% of stock in the new company.
Frank says Cyrte's "sector expertise and financial strength" made it the ideal partner, adding: "I look forward to working with the rest of the management team on building our position as one of the leading independent producers of content in the UK and US and a growing force in distribution worldwide."
RDF received a takeover offer in April from its management team, led by the company's founder and chief exec David Frank. However, the current economic made it uncertain whether a buyout would take place. Based in London, RDF has three core divisions: RDF Rights, RDF Management, and RDF Interactive. This year, the company reported a 14% fall in revenues, blamed in part on a controversy surrounding footage of the Queen. In 2007, the company misleadingly edited a trailer to suggest that the Queen had stormed out of a photo shoot. The BBC and ITV consequently imposed a commissioning ban on the firm.
StrategyEye's related companies: BBC, RDF Media, ITV, Cyrte Investments, Endemol
