Sophie Turner Laing to run Shine & Endemol merged group

21st Century Fox president and chief operating officer Chase Carey said earlier this month that the deal with Apollo Global Management, which was first announced in May, is due to be finalised shortly and it is understood that Turner Laing will be named as the global boss of the mega-indie.

She left Sky earlier this month having announced her departure from the pay-TV broadcaster in May. At the time, industry sources said Turner Laing - who also held senior posts at the BBC - remained interested in another major role and she was linked to the Shine, Endemol and Core merger.

21st Century Fox and Apollo Global Management are in the final stages of establishing the structure of the new group, which will encompass indies including Broadchurch producer Kudos, Princess Productions, Dragonfly, Tiger Aspect and Darlow Smithson, as well as Endemol’s central non-scripted division, which has created hits such as Deal or No Deal.

Shine chief executive Alex Mahon and Endemol chief executive officer Just Spee will remain with their respective companies until the deal is closed but will leave after such regulatory clearances are reached.

However, Endemol president Tim Hincks’ position is not quite clear. Core Media president Marc Graboff left the company earlier this month with Endemol North America chairmen and chief executives Cris Abrego and Charlie Corwin taking over his responsibilities.

The production operations at each of the three companies are expected to run relatively independently, but the deal is likely to result in back-office savings, while there could be scope to bring together international distribution.

Together, Endemol and Shine have a global turnover of more than £1.5bn. Core, an umbrella business that co-produces Fox’s American Idol via 19 Entertainment, is privately owned and its finances are not publically available. It was purchased by Apollo in 2011 for £312m ($509m).

“Pending the parties finalising an agreement to form a joint venture comprised of Endemol, Shine Group and Core Media Group the venture partners today confirmed that Sophie Turner Laing, former managing director of content at BSkyB, would become the new venture’s CEO,” a 21st Century Fox spokeswoman said.