Creative Broadcast Services Ltd., which is made up of Macquarie Capital Alliance Group and Macquarie Bank Ltd., is buying BBC Broadcast from the BBC for 166 million.
Macquarie Capital Alliance Group owns 65% of Creative Broadcast Services Ltd. while Macquarie Bank Ltd. owns the other 35%. The transaction is subject to approval from the British government, and is expected to reach completion by the end of July.
“There is no intention for any staff redundancies during the one-year moratorium. Our focus is on growing the business,” said a spokeswoman for Macquarie Capital Alliance. Reuters reports:
BBC Broadcast had revenues of 109 million pounds in the year to March 31, 2005, and its contracted revenue to 2015 from the BBC was expected to be more than 500 million pounds, the consortium said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.
BBC Broadcast had a “state-of-the-art playout facility” at White City, London, and under the acquisition agreement, its senior management team would be retained, the consortium said.
“Creative Broadcast Services is committed to growing BBC Broadcast as a business and maintaining a long-term partnership with the BBC,” said BBC Head Mark Thompson. “I’m confident this will allow us to maintain the strong relationships which already exist between the BBC and BBC Broadcast.”
Macquarie Capital Alliance’s equity in the consortium comes from part of the A$1 billion that it got from its recent IPO. Macquarie Bank has 40 million pounds in the consortium.
Chris is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest ebusiness news.
