Elstein launches £500m bid to acquire Hallmark Channel

by Sam Matthews,, Brand Republic 08-Jul-04, 10:30

LONDON - David Elstein, the former chief executive of Five, has confirmed his interest to buy the Hallmark Channel in a bid believed to worth £500m.

If the bid is successful, it will give Elstein control of the UK Hallmark Channel and its operations in more than 120 countries. The deal will also include a library of films owned by the channel, worth millions of pounds.

The Hallmark Channel, owned by Hallmark Entertainment but run by Crown Media, has allegedly received a bid from Sony and interest from media giants News Corporation, Disney, Turner, Time Warner, Saban, MGM and Liberty Media.

The £500m bid from Elstein, understood to have been put together with a group of financial institutions, would be significantly above the £418m value put on the business by one analyst.

The bidding is likely to finish at the end of the month, but the final deal will not be closed until autumn 2004, leaving considerable time for other bids to submitted, according to sources.

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