Bidders line up to grab Broadcast
More than 70 would-be buyers have expressed an interest in BBC Broadcast, according to the company's management.
The deadline for "expressions of interest" closed on Friday March 11, after an advert had been placed in the Financial Times a week earlier, and would-be bidders now have until Monday March 21 to complete questionnaires issued by the BBC.
Broadcast Ltd management have revealed that at least 70 companies have expressed and interest, but will not disclose their identities. However, BECTU is hoping that the names of bidders will be released, subject to their agreement, once a condensed shortlist has been prepared, possibly as early as April.
In the press advertisement offering for sale the wholly-owned subsidary, and its 1,000-plus staff, the BBC emphasised that its purchaser would take over the company's existing £100m a year contract to play out BBC TV programmes until 2012.
For many interested bidders, this was a clear signal that the Corporation was prepared to exchange a big cheque from a purchaser now, for guaranteed payments out of the licence fee for the next seven years, much like the deal under which BBC Technology was sold in October 2004 for £150m.
Soon after the sale of Technology to German conglomerate Siemens, the BBC's Director-General announced that BBC Broadcast, and BBC Resources would follow, while chunks of BBC Worldwide would also be sold off.
According to Broadcast's last annual accounts, the company has a healthy cash flow, recording a £7m profit on turnover of £108m. Most of its income is from the BBC, and ambitious plans for an expansion of external income from commercial customers have yet to pay off.
Prices and service levels offered by the company are, says the BBC unequivocally, acceptable, however in an announcement last December Thompson stated that it was "no longer necessary" for the company to remain in the Corporation's ownership.
BECTU has pledged to campaign against the privatisation of BBC Broadcast, which executives claim could be completed by August 2005. A series of demands to protect staff in the event of a sale has been tabled by the union, based on a package agreed with Siemens, but Broadcast management have yet to respond.
No formal announcement has yet been made about the future of BBC Resources, the other subsidiary which could be sold. Uncertainty has been created by a plan to transfer two of its main customers, BBC Sports and Childrens' programmes, from London to Manchester at some time in the next five years, and no formal move has been made to advertise the company for sale.