TV casualty

31 July 2007 By John Foley Follow @johnsfoley

"The Apprentice" may be a hit, but Sugar s Amstrad empire isn t. He is selling it to James Murdoch s BSkyB for 10% of its stock market peak. Amstrad’s new owner is a younger, more dynamic breed of entrepreneur. Maybe it s time "The Apprentice" had a new guy in the boss’s seat.

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Sir Alan Sugar, the UK entrepreneur, has agreed a £125m offer from BSkyB for his Amstrad electronics business. Amstrad predominantly makes television settop boxes, and its contract with Sky represents the majority of its revenues. The offer is an 18% premium to the average threemonth share price.

As well as owning 28% of Amstrad, Sugar has interests including numerous London properties, private jets and computers. His wealth was estimated by the Sunday Times Rich List at £830m. He is also the star of the UK's The Apprentice reality series, in which contestants battle to win a £100,000ayear position in Sugar's employ.

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