BBC gets 18 bids for broadcast division

LONDON -- The British Broadcasting Corp. is considering offers from 18 bidders for its broadcasting division, the publicly funded broadcaster said Wednesday.

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The BBC, which is selling the division to cut costs, said the sale has attracted interest from both the media industry and private equity investors.

BBC Broadcast is one of three commercial divisions within the corporation. It is responsible for transmission within Britain, creating program trailers and promotions and providing subtitle and voiceover services.

Peter Phillips, director of business development, said the company would begin a "rigorous evaluation" of the 18 bidders shortly and expected to winnow down the contenders to a short list by the end of May. He said the BBC would be assessing their "effectiveness as long-term business partners of the BBC and their cultural fit."

The list of financial-industry bidders includes Advent International, Apax Partners Worldwide LLP, Bank of Scotland Corporate, Barclays Private Equity, Bridgepoint, Exponent Private Equity, HgCapital, Kleinwort Capital Ltd., Montagu Private Equity, Palamon Capital Partners LP and The Carlyle Group.

Industry bidders included the Ascent Media Group and Thomson/Technicolor.

The BBC declined to reveal the identity of the other five bidders.

The sale of BBC Broadcast follows an internal review of the corporation's commercial businesses. The review concluded that while the services provided by BBC Broadcast "are vital to the BBC, they did not necessarily need to remain owned by the BBC."

The BBC said it expected to complete the sale by the end of the summer. Any deal is subject to the final approval of the BBC Governors and Executive Board and the British government's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

The other BBC commercial divisions are BBC Resources, which has responsibility for BBC facilities such as studios, outside broadcast trucks and post production facilities, and BBC Worldwide which part-owns BBC America and runs BBC channels in other parts of the world. BBC Worldwide also sells program rights to BBC productions globally and sells program related merchandise.