Bonus time for Shine staff following News Corp deal

Shine has paid a flat bonus of £10,000 (US$16,380) to its staff, having finalised the £415 million deal that saw it taken over by News Corp, TBIvision has learnt.

A flat bonus of £10,000 was paid last week to all permanent staff that had been at the production and distribution group for a year or longer. The amount was paid irrespective of job title although some senior management would have had larger payouts because of shares and options held.

Shine declined to comment, but confirmed the bonus was paid to employees last Wednesday/Thursday by way of thanks for building the business prior to its sale to News.

It was not clear how many Shine employees qualified for the bonus. Across the various Shine divisions the headcount can run to 1,000, depending in what is in production, but many of these staff are employed on a freelance basis.

The Shine group comprises numerous production brands after a period in which is hit the acquisition trail. These include Dragonfly, Kudos, Metronome, Princess, Reveille, Brown eyed Boy and Shine-branded units in Australia, France and Germany. There is also programme sales arm Shine International.

The News Corp deal for Shine was announced in late February. It closed earlier this month.