John de Mol backs management bid for RDF Media

by Jacquie Bowser, Brand Republic 25-Apr-08, 09:05

LONDON - John de Mol, the Dutch TV executive behind 'Big Brother', has emerged as the leader of a consortium backing the proposed management buyout of independent TV production company RDF Media.

De Mol, who is the founder and part owner of Endemol, the company that created the Big Brother format, is supporting the bid through his investment vehicle Cryte Investments, which already holds a 27.5% share of RDF.

RDF said yesterday that it had received an indicative cash proposal from a consortium including the company's management. David Frank, RDF's founder and chief executive, is believed to be involved.

Between de Mol's Cyrte, Frank and other members of management, the consortium already controls more than half of RDF.

Shares in the TV production company, maker of shows such as 'Location, Location, Location' and 'Wife Swap', soared 33.5% after the announcement to close at 127.5p. In today's early trading, its share price has dropped 0.79% to 125p.

RDF Media said the approach was at a very early stage. The company's independent directors Richard Eyre, Tim Weller and Maggie Carver will form an independent committee on the board of RDF to evaluate the indicative proposal.

Last year, RDF was in trouble with Buckingham Palace and the BBC after it supplied a misleading trailer for its programme 'A Year with the Queen'. Footage had been reordered to suggest Her Majesty had walked out of the photo shoot with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz in anger, but this was not the case.