The US private equity fund KKR is scouting for buyers for its 49% stake in Endemol Shine India, which produces popular reality television shows such as Bigg Boss, Khatron Ke Khiladi and MasterChef India, people directly aware of the matter said.
KKR could fetch Rs 450-700 crore for its stake in the Indian arm of Dutch television and film production company Endemol, they said, adding that the final value of the deal would include the “option value” for new content in the pipeline that is yet to be commercially tested.
Endemol Shine Group owns remaining 51% stake in the Mumbai-based producer of films and TV shows. A spokesperson for KKR declined comment in response to ET’s queries.
According to sources cited earlier, the PE firm has appointed San Francisco-based investment banking boutique GCA Savvian to arrange the sale of its stake. Potential suitors are yet to be approached, they said.
KKR inherited its stake in Endemol Shine India when it acquired media investment portfolio of CA Media, whose founder Peter Chernin, a former News Corporation executive, in one of the most savvy media investors in the world.
The stake is owned by Emerald Media, a 100% KKR-owned vehicle in which Chernin continues to have an economic interest linked to the upside that the fund makes from its investments, as per agreements signed between the parties two years ago.
Positioned as a disruptor in the market, it roped in Bollywood stars Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar to create buzz around the new programming that fit into the non-scripted genre of television content, a novelty at the time.
Since then, it has created versions of Bigg Boss in vernacular languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Bangla and Kannada to cater to growing regional audiences. In 2015 Endemol and 21st Century Fox Group’s Shine merged to form Endemol Shine Group, following which, the Indian company was renamed Endemol Shine India.
The company has undergone management changes after its long-serving CEO Deepak Dhar quit recently. This was soon followed by the exit of its Asia head Fotini Paraskakis. At present, Nicola Bamford, Endemol’s CEO for international operations, chairs the company’s board in India, while Endemol India COO Abhishek Rege has been elevated to head the local arm.
“India will continue to remain a key market for the company and it may even make it a production hub for other Asian markets,” a person close the company said.
Industry watchers, however, cautioned that the fate of the global parent was uncertain amidst speculation that Disney may be contemplating a multi-billion dollar purchase of assets of 21st Century Fox Group, which owns half of Endemol globally.
Endemol competes with well-entrenched local production houses such as Balaji Telefilms that specialises in scripted programming, and global players like Fremantle Media that produces India’s Got Talent and Indian Idol. Endemol claims to be the number one producer of the non-scripted genre.
The company has commissioned and produced about 170 shows, that is around 6,000 hours of programming, in eight languages to evolve from being just a television producer to a content production company across television, film, OTT and digital.
Other than Endemol Shine India, KKR’s Emerald Media has also backed Graphic India, a premium character entertainment firm with 100+ existing IP properties; OML, a leading live entertainment firm focusing on the youth market through festivals, concert tours and content creation; Fluence, India’s first and largest digital celebrity network producing exclusive celebrityled content including video, voice and games; YuppTV, one of the world’s leading OTT content player for South Asian content, live TV, video on demand, and on-demand movie solutions; and Amagi, a next-generation media technology firm providing cloud-based, managed broadcast services and targeted advertising platforms to customers worldwide.
