$80m deal agreed for RDF

An agreement has been reached for the management-led takeover of UK superindie RDF Media Group, in a deal that gives existing shareholders 120p a share and values the Wife Swap firm at £52m (US$80.4m).

Endemol co-founder John de Mol’s investment vehicle Cyrte has formed a new private limited company, Bidco, to aid the acquisition, in partnership with RDF management, led by founder and chief executive David Frank.

The shareholders in Bidco are RDF’s current management, which control 24% of the company, and an entity called Dasym, managed by Cryte, which holds the remaining 76%.

As part of the deal to take the company private, the current RDF Media shareholders will exchange a proportion of their current shares in RDF for a stake in Bidco. Board members Richard Eyre and Tim Weller are exiting the company. Chief exec Frank, will control 9.5% of stock in the new company.

At today’s FutureMedia 2008 conference, when C21 asked Jane Millichip, RDF Rights’ chief operating officer, whether today’s deal would bring RDF and de Mol-backed Dutch production giant Endemol closer together, she replied simply: “Yes.”

The MBO comes as RDF’s share price has been sliding over the past year, following the Queengate scandal, in which the trailer for a documentary about the Queen was misleadingly edited to give the appearance she had stormed out of a photo shoot.

It is understood that the buyout team has been trying to put together the financing to for the deal amid the worsening financial situation.

The board of Bidco said in a statement today that the deal “allows management to focus on longer-term operational stability and organic growth” as well as aid future acquisitions.

“The board believes the company would benefit from being able to give additional focus to operations and long-term creative development as a private company,” it said.

“Bidco believes further consolidation in the global TV production and distribution markets is likely to take place and, as a private entity, the company would be better positioned to take advantage of the opportunities that this consolidation will deliver.”

Frank said: “Cyrte’s sector expertise and financial strength makes them the ideal partner to support RDF through this next stage in its evolution. I look forward to working with them and the rest of the management team on building our position as one of the leading independent producers of content in the UK and US and a growing force in distribution worldwide.”

Frank Botman, chief executive of Cyrte, added: “We believe RDF is a strong company, with high-quality formats, experienced management and a complementary mix between content production and rights business. Cyrte is enthusiastic about contributing to the growth of RDF by leveraging its experience in the media and content sectors and by providing financial support.”