UPDATE 1-RDF Media gets management buy-out approach
(Adds detail, share price)
LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - RDF Media Group Plc RDF.L, the British documentary firm behind last year's flawed editing of a programme about Queen Elizabeth, is in the early stages of a possible management buy-out, it said on Thursday.
RDF said in a statement that a consortium including its executive directors had submitted an indicative cash proposal, sending its shares up over 30 percent to 126 pence, to value it at around 52.6 million pounds ($104 million).
The shares had previously fallen over 60 percent since the row over the Queen documentary broke last year.
The group said an independent committee composed of its independent directors would be formed to evaluate the proposal but warned that the approach was still at a very early stage.
Shares in RDF were hit in 2007 after a trailer for a documentary on the Queen wrongly implied that she had stormed out of a photo shoot with U.S. celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz.
The story caused a storm in the British media, prompted broadcasters ITV (ITV.L) and the BBC [BBC.UL] to suspend commissioning and resulted in chief creative officer Stephen Lambert resigning.
The group was founded in 1993 and was behind such programmes as "Location, Location, Location" and "Wife Swap" and floated on the AIM market in May 2005. Analysts said the announcement could turn the spotlight on similar companies.
"Although the financial details have yet to be fully disclosed, we expect that the management team would have to offer a premium of at least 30 to 40 percent on the previous closing stock price of 95.5 pence," Ingenious Securities analyst Patrick Yau said in a note.
"Having seen the RDF stock price fall dramatically over the last few months ... we are unsurprised that an MBO proposal has been tabled.
"We believe that this move will be a trigger for more speculative interest across a sub-sector that has fallen out of favour with investors." (Reporting by Kate Holton, editing by Will Waterman)
