Mark Burnett, IMG talks get real

Mark Burnett, IMG talks get real By James Hibberd and Kimberly Nordyke

Company in the market for a successful reality outfit

Global talent agency and TV producer IMG is in talks to acquire at least part of Mark Burnett’s Mark Burnett Prods.

The “Survivor” mastermind has been looking to sell his company for some time and last year retained Bear Stearns to shepherd the process. Burnett has met with a range of potential buyers, including top reality players FremantleMedia, Endemol and CKX, the parent company of 19 Entertainment.

IMG — which has made growth in TV a major priority since tapping former HBO boss Chris Albrecht as global media head in September and giving him access to a $250 million private-equity fund for acquisitions and investments — also has been in the market for a successful reality production company.

IMG has talked with such players in the field as Bunim/Murray and the Gurin Co., and in April, it inked a deal with Glassman Media to partner on producing and distributing unscripted series.

The parameters of the potential deal with Burnett’s company, first reported by Deadline Hollywood Daily, are still unclear, with insiders indicating that at least half the company is up for sale. The rumored price tag is $250 million, outpacing the $200 million Elisabeth Murdoch’s Shine group recently shelled out for another big U.S. reality player, Reveille, which also boasts a successful scripted division. In 2000, CKX paid $200 million for 19 Entertainment, the company of “American Idol” creator Simon Fuller.

In what could be another sign of Burnett’s intentions, his top business associates at MBP, Conrad Riggs and Roy Bank, recently exited the company.

Burnett owns or co-owns the format rights to most of its series, including “The Apprentice” and “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” but often outsources the production of international versions to other companies, such as FremantleMedia and Reveille. Even though “Survivor” is based on a British format, Burnett’s super-rich deal with CBS for the show is said to be crucial to the high price tag for his company, along with the fact that MBP is one of the last marquee indie-producing companies available.

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