Cowell bids for new Global Entertainment company

Valerie | 25 Jun 2009, 14:46

Record and TV talent mogul Simon Cowell has joined forces with Sir Philip Green, the British retail billionaire who owns BHS and the Arcadia group, to form a global entertainment company that will create and own television content on both sides of the Atlantic.

The FT reports that the business deal will effectively see Sir Philip act as a holding company for all of Cowell’s entertainment interests, which include Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor, and provide a springboard for future TV programmes.

At present, the X Factor Talent franchises sell to 30 countries, with profits going to either Simon Fuller’s 19 company or Sony, who bought the rights from Cowell’s existing production organisation, Syco.

The new venture, which would combine a TV production, talent management and merchandising company together would see Cowell developing his own content and achieve earnings that would propel the X Factor presenter into the ranks of the global entertainment industry’s top earners, alongside the likes of Oprah Winfrey. 

As the Telegraph observes, Cowell has been hugely successful in America, something that many British entrepreneurs have failed to do (TV production companies aside as previously discussed on c&binet) and is a “great asset for promoting Britain’s ability to mesh creativity with commercially lucrative programme formats.” 

For Sir Philip, the company is expected to create a lucrative merchandising opportunity, particularly in fashion. He will also provide business advice to Mr Cowell on his television work.

The news represents a significant change in the scale of ambition for Cowell, whose Syco firm is successful but relatively small in scale. The c&binet forum in October will include a session devoted to helping mid-sized businesses that are looking to build greater business capacity and achieve growth.