At the take-over of Endemol by Spanish Telefonica, EUR 571 million is ‘lost’. In 2000, Telefonica paid EUR 668 million for assets that Endemol sold for EUR 97 million to a Canadian company one day earlier. That transaction was not reported at the Spanish stock market commission, Dutch daily Volkskrant reports. A special public prosecutor researches the possible fraud at the take-over of Endemol by Telefonica. Telefonica paid EUR 5.435 billion for Endemol against a market value of EUR 1.5 billion. Endemol International Distribution was sold to CanWest Entertainment on August 1, 2000 without profit for EUR 97 million. Telefonica paid EUR 668 million for the same company, 12.3 percent of the total sum because the division is responsible for 12.3 percent of the Endemol profit.
