Simon Cowell announced today a long-term deal with Sony Music, ending months of fraught negotiations between the star of The X Factor and the music label.
Under the deal, Sony will swap its 100 per cent ownership of Syco, the company which owns The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, for a 50 per cent stake in a new joint venture with Mr Cowell.
The deal will fulfil Mr Cowell’s long-held desire to own rights in his most popular shows, which he gave up in 2005 after selling his 50 per cent stake in Syco to Sony.
Now he will be able to profit directly from the success of The X Factor when the top-rated talent show launches in America next year, a move which could substantially boost his wealth.
The new Sony-Cowell joint venture will produce and develop new television and online shows as well as taking The X Factor to the United States. It will also control rights to acts such as Leona Lewis, Susan Boyle and Il Divo.
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“I have had a fantastic relationship with Sony for many years and I’m delighted we are launching this venture together,” Mr Cowell said.
Sir Philip Green, the billionaire owner of Top Shop who negotiated with Sony on behalf of Mr Cowell, will become a shareholder in the Cowell-controlled company which will be Sony’s partner in the joint venture.
It is understood that the deal will run for five or six years. It is unclear, however, whether rights in shows created by the new company will revert to Mr Cowell or Sony - or both - when the contract expires.
The deal has been announced after almost ten months of negotiations between Mr Cowell and Sony and a week after the music entrepreneur announced he was leaving American Idol next year after failing to agree a new deal with Simon Fuller, the show’s creator.
Mr Fuller recently announced plans to create his own new entertainment company called XIX, with a provisional value of £100 million.