Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox has entered talks with Endemol-owner Apollo Global Management to create a mega-indie combining Shine Group, Endemol and Core Media.
The Hollywood studio has confirmed to Broadcast that the two companies have entered preliminary talks to create a joint venture to house the production firms.
Any deal would mark the latest massive media deal in the last few weeks following Viacom’s acquisition of Channel 5, ITV’s purchase of Leftfield Entertainment and Discovery’s purchase of All3Media.
“21st Century Fox confirms its intent to form a joint venture with funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management comprised of Endemol, Shine Group and Core Media Group,” Fox noted in a statement.
“The parties have entered into a preliminary agreement, subject to a number of conditions, which calls for 21st Century Fox and funds managed by affiliates of Apollo to jointly own and manage the new joint venture.
“There can be no assurance that the proposed transaction will be completed.”
The joint venture would be vast. Endemol’s global turnover was £1bn last year, while Shine’s revenue was £510m in 2013. Core Media is privately owned and its finances are less publically available, but it was purchased by Apollo in 2011 for £303m ($509m).
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