Endemol Shine has been taken off the sales block, a person with knowledge of the change-in-plans tells TheWrap. Instead, its owners are going back to a growth strategy.
The company is co-owned by 21st Century Fox and Apollo Global Management. With no sale, Fox’s 50 percent ownership will head to Disney once that acquisition is finalized. The Walt Disney Company is expected to officially absorb most of Fox’s assets in early 2019.
Fox and Apollo had put a price tag on Endemol in the $2 billion range. They had some nibbles — and even advanced talks in recent weeks with French company Banijay Group — but an expected deal never came to fruition.
Endemol Shine is the production house behind Netflix’s “Black Mirror,” Fox’s “MasterChef” and CBS’ “Big Brother.” It is itself the result of a merger, one which combined Endemol and Shine & Core back in 2014.
A spokeswoman for Fox declined to comment on this story, as did reps for Endemol. Apollo did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Variety first reported the news of Endemol Shine’s potential sale being called off.