Talpa considers sell-off

John de Mol’s Talpa has appointed Bank of America Merrill Lynch as advisor after receiving a number of approaches from suitors interested in buying out the Utopia producer.

A Talpa spokesman confirmed a report in Dutch newspaper the Financieele Dagblad that the company is considering potential offers from “several international parties” but he said this wouldn’t necessarily result in a sale.

The report named 21st Century Fox and FremantleMedia as possible suitors for the Dutch formats outfit behind shows including The Voice, Utopia and The Winner Is.

21st Century Fox is in the midst of merging its Shine Group with Endemol, while FremantleMedia missed out to Discovery Communications and Liberty Global earlier this year in acquiring the UK’s All3Media.

Rumours of a sale of Talpa have been circling in the Netherlands for the past few months with talk of interest from China, where Zheijang TV airs its own version of The Voice, produced together with Star China – which 21st Century Fox sold its stake in earlier this year.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch also advised Talpa on its acquisition of a 33% stake in Dutch broadcaster SBS in 2011, with Discovery subsequently buying up the Nordic branch of the business and now said to be keen on taking control of both.

Talpa, set up by de Mol in 2005, was at one time considered a potential fit for a merger with Endemol, the Big Brother producer he co-founded and sold to Teléfonica for €5.5bn (US$7.1bn) in 2000. He subsequently bought it back for €3.4bn via Cryte Investments together with Mediaset and Goldman Sachs.

The Financieele Dagblad article put a price tag of between €600m and €700m on Talpa but noted that this was lower than the €1bn figure it claims de Mol, who owns 80% of the business, has in mind. Shine reportedly offered €450m for the company last year.

While The Voice has proven a huge hit for the company, its latest reality format Utopia has yet to meet with similar success.