CBS Corp is considering a bid for Dick Clark Productions and would join other bidders including “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest, who have until 8/31 to make offers, according to a Reuters story.
CBS is in a group of four to six bidders who have moved to a second round of discussions with Dick Clark Productions CEO Mark Shapiro, said the story. At least 40 bidders have expressed an interest in acquiring the production house that bears the name of the late Dick Clark. Clark, who founded the company in 1957, sold his majority stake to Mosaic Media Group in 2002. The company is now owned by Red Zone Capital, an equity company owned by Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder. Red Zone acquired DCP back in 2007. Shapiro and Snyder, chairman of Dick Clark Productions, are asking $350 million for the company.
Key DCP program franchises include the Golden Globes, the American Music Awards, the “Miss Universe Pageant” and current Fox program “So You Think You Can Dance.”
Other bidders include private equity firm Colony Capital, which owns film studio Miramax; private equity firm Guggenheim Partners; and Core Media Group, which holds the rights to the Elvis Presley brand and produces “American Idol,” said Reuters.
CBS considered bidding for the TV rights to the “Golden Globe Awards” in 2010, its CEO Les Moonves has acknowledged.
