Cyrte in battle for control of Endemol The Dutch private equity firm, set up to manage Mr De Mol's investments, owns a third of the Big Brother creator, which is expected to be scaled back to around 20pc as part of a debt-for-equity swap to restructure the €2.8bn (£2.3bn) it owes to lenders. According to sources close to Cyrte, it is confident of securing around a further 20pc from Endemol's lenders, including Goldman Sachs and Centerbridge, once the restructuring deal is complete. The combined stake will not put Cyrte over the 50pc threshold, but would put it well ahead of any other single shareholder, from which position Cyrte executives believe they can drive through Mr De Mol's agenda. Top of the list would be a revival of a deal he first attempted in 2008, when Mr De Mol owned a third of Endemol, with his other production business, Talpa Media, which devised BBC One talent show The Voice. Mr De Mol tried to make Endemol act as Talpa's distribution arm by setting up a joint venture between the two companies, giving Talpa access to Endemol's production operations worldwide. At the time, Endemol overruled Mr De Mol because the deal was too favourable to Talpa, but sources close to Cyrte say it is now looking to acquire Talpa outright. Endemol overcame a major hurdle last week, when more than two thirds of its lenders agreed to the restructuring deal, enabling it to forge ahead with the plan and draw a line under more than a year's worth of wrangling. Under the deal, Cyrte, Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset and Goldman Sachs' Capital Partners, will see their combined stake reduced to below 50pc and the debt slashed to €500m.