Sony to buy Millionaire firm for £137.

chris

Sony Pictures is to buy the Dutch company that owns the rights to TV quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? for £137.5m.

Dutch content company 2waytraffic, which specialises in offering interactive viewing services, said it had agreed to a takeover offer from Sony Pictures, part of the Japanese electronics giant Sony.

Sony's offer includes £114.3m for the company's shares and £23.2m in earn-out agreements for 2waytraffic's four founders if they stay on until 2011.

2waytraffic bought the Millionaire format in December 2006, paying £106m for the consortium of media companies behind the show.

That deal netted comedian Jasper Carrott and his wife, Hazel, more than £10m thanks to their stake in production company Celador International.

Millionaire is licensed to more than 100 countries and the UK version, hosted by Chris Tarrant, has been a mainstay of the ITV1 schedule for a decade.

Among the other Celador shows bought by 2waytraffic are You Are What You Eat, Brainiest and Take It or Leave It.

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