Shed's private equity talks continue

Shed Media, the independent producer behind Supernanny and Waterloo Road, said today that talks to sell the company were progressing with two private equity firms. The company added that talks between senior management and London-based private equity groups Bowmark Capital and Darwin Private Equity over a buyout were "continuing to advance", as it revealed that adjusted pre-tax profit remained steady at £12m in 2009. Shed, which owns production companies including Wall to Wall, Ricochet and Twenty Twenty, reported that revenue rose by 13% year on year to £92.6m. The company said that the TV commissioning environment was "challenging" for its UK operation last year. Revenue from the UK operation fell from £43.1m in 2008 to £40.2m last year, although the volume of TV produced remained stable at 151 hours. Shed added that its US operation showed strong growth last year. Revenue figures were not provided, but programming output for US broadcasters grew by 56% year on year to 100 hours. "Last year, we continued to invest in the expansion of our US operation and we expect that investment will continue to fuel the growth in America," said the Shed Media chief executive, Nick Southgate. "In the UK, we have made a substantial commitment to our Scottish office which will begin to provide a return in 2010." Geographically, 27% of Shed's overall gross profit comes from the UK operation, 31% from the US, and 42% from intellectual property sales to the rest of the world. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".