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All3 sale process moves ahead

UK superindie All3Media has appointed investment bank UBS to explore strategic options for the business, including a possible sale.

Speculation about the future of All3 intensified last year, amid reports that private equity firm Permira, which holds just over 50% of the business, would be seeking an exit this year.

All3’s 20 subsidiary companies count Undercover Boss, Skins and Shameless among their production credits and the firm is one of the leading independent groups left in the UK, following News Corp’s recent acquisition of Shine Group.

With Elisabeth Murdoch’s company having gone to her father’s at a valuation of £415m, some 12 times earnings, city analysts are putting the potential All3 price tag as high as £780m, based on projections for the current financial year.

ITV, whose CEO Adam Crozier has cited acquisition as a possible route for improving the UK broadcaster’s production pipeline and international standing, has been linked to a potential bid.

Warner Bros is also in acquisitive mood, having last year snapped up Shed Media in the UK, while NBC Universal, which made a number of smaller purchases in the territory last year, has also been suggested as an All3 suitor.

But All3’s management, which jointly owns around 40% of the company, claims that a sale is not the only option under consideration, though this is thought to be the most likely outcome.

“We are looking to see which is the best partner or the best route to take us to our next stage of growth. That could be another private equity company, it could be a strategic company. It could also be a float,” All3 CEO Steve Morrision told the FT. Morrision will deliver the closing keynote at MipFormats in Cannes on Sunday.

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