Whisper, the parent company of MediaCity-based BBC Sports Personality of the Year and Wheel of Fortune producer Whisper North, is reportedly in talks over the sale of a minority or majority stake in its business.
Sky News reports that the production company is working with consultancy firm KPMG to organise talks with a number of bidders. The company is said to be open to a range of options, including the sale of a majority or minority stake to either financial investors or a strategic buyer. Sony Pictures Television currently owns 30% of Whisper’s shares, with the founders and management team holding the remainer.
Whisper was founded by current CEO Sunil Patel, alongside Jake Humphrey and David Coulthard in 2010, with Channel 4 coming on board as a minority shareholder in 2015 before being superceded by Sony in 2020.
It employs roughly 300 people, and has offices in Manchester, London, Cardiff and Riyadh, as well as plans to expand into the US and Europe. A number of leadership changes have recently taken place at Whisper, with Richard Lancaster becoming CTO, Bethan Evans moving to managing director of sport and Mark Cole stepping into the group managing director role, plus Two Circles co-founder Matt Rogan and former Turner Sports exec Tina Shah have joined the advisory board.
Whisper became the first company outside of the BBC to produce the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year show last year, and has also worked on documentaries with the likes of England Test cricket captain Ben Stokes and the late Sven Goran-Eriksson, which won the Broadcast Sport Award for Sport Documentary of the Year (over 60 minutes).
Other projects include live and highlights content such as the Paralympics, Women’s FA Cup, which won the Broadcast Sport Awards’ Sport Production of the year, and Channel 4’s F1 coverage, as well as diversifying into non-sport a number of game shows including Wheel Of Fortune, Pictionary, Jeopardy, and more. It also works with rights holders such as UEFA, Wimbledon and the NFL.
In its most recent accounts, Whisper made a £4.3m pre-tax profit for the year to March 31, 2024.
