RDF Media, the television production company behind Wife Swap and Location, Location, Location, has received a £50m takeover offer from a consortium including Cyrte Investment, a company set up by Big Brother media mogul John de Mol, and led by RDF's chief executive David Frank.
RDF had initially received an offer from its management team fronted by RDF Media's founder and chief executive David Frank, and Cyrte, in April.
It was reported last month that the management buy-out team was at risk of collapse as the debt funding was reduced. Another bank has since been brought in to make up the fund, however.
It is believed that Barclays, Allied Irish and Royal Bank of Scotland. are to provide finance for the takeover.
Mr Frank, who founded RDF in 1993, was previously a BBC business reporter on programmes such as Panorama, Newsnight, and the 6 o'Clock News.
RDF was forced to apologise last year for a trailer that was edited to suggest that the Queen had stormed out of a photo shoot. The BBC and ITV imposed a commissioning ban on the firm, after this, which adversely affected revenues for the media company. Relations with the broadcasters have since gone back to normal.
