[AJ.]

Endemol is reportedly on the verge of hiring debt and restructuring advisors Houlihan Lokey to help manage its multibillion-euro debt.

The international prodco behind Big Brother is thought to owe €2.3bn ($US3.2bn) and has called on investment bank Houlihan Lokey to assess its options, according to UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

Both Endemol and Houlihan Lokey declined to comment this morning.

Private investment company Apollo Management is also thought to have recently bought a small part of Endemol's debt, according to the paper.

Endemol's arrears run at 13 times its earnings, and even if it were able to double its business, the debt structure would need attention, the Telegraph said, citing unnamed sources. The debt was incurred during a three-way consortium buy-out in 2007, involving company founder John de Mol, Goldman Sachs and Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset.

The news comes after Endemol chief operating officer and Big Brother co-creator Paul Römer left last month as part of the company's latest management restructure.

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Might this mean C5 getting a better deal if they were to reopen negotiations?