Endemol

History[edit]

Endemol was founded in 1994 by a merger of television production companies owned by Joop van den Ende and John de Mol, the name deriving from the combination of their surnames.^[1]


Endemol has specialised in formatted programming that can be adapted for different countries around the world as well as different media platforms. One notable success has been the Big Brother reality television show, with versions in many countries after the initial Dutch version. Other examples include Deal or No Deal (sold to over 75 countries), The Money Drop (sold in over 50 countries), Fear Factor (sold in 30 countries) and Wipeout (sold in over 30 countries). From 2011 till its absorption by Endemol Shine Group, the company expanded its English language drama output with shows such as The Fall, Peaky Blinders, Ripper Street and Black Mirror in the UK and Hell on Wheels in the US. In November 2013 the company launched Endemol Beyond, an international division specialising in original content for digital video platforms such as YouTube.


In 2000, Endemol was sold to the Spanish telecom and media corporation Telefónica for €5.5 billion. In November 2005, 25% of Endemol was taken public, and since was listed on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange under the stock symbol EML. On 14 May 2007 the remaining 75% of Endemol shares were bought by a consortium, Edam Acquisition, led by Mediaset, the company controlled by Silvio Berlusconi's family, and including the investment company Cyrte, in which the original co-founder John de Mol has shares.^[2] The consortium announced on 6 August 2007 that it now owned 99.54% of Endemol shares, after an offer to buy the remaining shares went through on 3 August 2007; it asked the Euronext bourse for a delisting of Endemol.^[3]


It was reported in 2010 that the company was $3 billion in debt.^[4] Then in 2011, it was reported that the debt had grown to $4.1 billion.^[5]


A loan restructure was planned for 2011 when Endemol was expected to breach its debt covenants.^[6] On 30 June, the debt covenants were breached at the same time that CEO Ynon Kreiz left the company and Endemol's UK subsidiary failed to file its annual accounts.^[7] On 23 March 2012, Endemol's debt was converted into shares by US private-equity firm Apollo Global Management.^[8] On 3 April 2012, Mediaset sold its majority stake in Endemol to Apollo and Dutch asset manager Cyrte, and Endemol restructured the bulk of its debt. The current CEO is Just Spee.^[9] On 15 May 2014, Apollo and 21st Century Fox announced a joint venture to combine 21st Century Fox's Shine Group and Apollo's Endemol and CORE Media Group.^[10] The deal closed October 2014.^[11]


Over the years Endemol has expanded its international presence either by starting up operations in new markets or by acquiring existing production companies. Most recently, in December 2013, Endemol became a shareholder in Israel's Channel 2 franchisee Reshet, following the acquisition in April of a controlling share in the Israeli independent producer Kuperman, which is now Endemol Israel.^[12]


On 17 December 2014, Endemol merged with fellow Apollo Global Management subsidiary Core Media, producer of American Idol, and 21st Century Fox's Shine unit, with the resulting 'mega-indie' adopting the name "Endemol Shine Group", which was a 50:50 joint venture by both parent companies. The name took effect on 1 January 2015.^[13] 21st Century Fox's predecessor company, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, had in 2011 bought Shine (founder and chairperson until the 2015 merger: Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth) for $673 million.^[14]