BBC sell-off hit by £15m hitchThe sale of studios and post-production subsidiary BBC BBC in full British Broadcasting Corp. Publicly financed broadcasting system in Britain. A private company at its founding in 1922, it was replaced by a public corporation under royal charter in 1927. Resources is understood to have hit a hurdle HURDLE, Eng. law. A species of sledge, used to draw traitors to execution. after it emerged that the corporation could be left with a shortfall Shortfall The amount by which the capital required to fulfill a financial obligation exceeds available capital. Notes: Shortfall risk is often combated with an efficient hedging strategy created by a fund, group, institution, or individual. of around £15m. Mediaguardian.co.uk has learned that around £50m is needed to cover the transfer of the pensions of BBC Resources staff to a potential new employer. However, estimates of the amount the sale could earn vary widely - from £150m down to £35m. Last year BBC Resources made a profit of £5 million on sales of £126 million. If the BBC has to cover the £50m pension shortfall Pension Shortfall A situation in which a company offering employees a defined benefit plan does not have enough money set aside to meet the pension obligations to employees who will be retired in the future. but the sale of BBC Resources raises only the lowest valuation, it could be left with a net loss of £15m. In August, the BBC put the commercial subsidiary, which runs the corporation's studios, post production and outside-broadcast operations up for sale. The sale process, led by Ernst & Young, invited bids for the whole of the BBC Resources division or each of its three principal operations individually. Insiders Insiders These are directors and senior officers of a corporation-in effect, those who have access to inside information about a company. An insider also is someone who owns more than 10% of the voting shares of a company. said the BBC was hoping a surplus in the corporation's pension fund could be used to offset the £50m gap. But the pension fund's trustees have told them that cannot be done. One corporation source said: "This is being discussed at the highest level." A meeting is due to take place later this month between the corporation and unions about the sale of BBC Resources. The Bectu general secretary, Gerry Morrissey Gerry Morrissey (born c. 1960) is a British trade unionist and the current General Secretary of BECTU. Born in Tipperary, County Tipperary in the Republic of Ireland, Morrisey began his career as a catering buyer at the BBC, joining the Association of Broadcasting Staff in , said: "The next key stage for us is when we see what bids come in for BBC Resources." Commenting on the problem with the pension fund, Mr Morrissey said: "If the BBC gets less than £50million for BBC Resources then how can it fulfil ful·fill also ful·fil tr.v. ful·filled, ful·fill·ing, ful·fills also ful·fils 1. To bring into actuality; effect: fulfilled their promises. 2. its duty of care to licence fee payers?" The BBC wants to use the cash to plough plough: see plow. into international commercial expansion and content. A BBC spokesman said: "The sale of BBC Resources will not leave a deficit in the BBC pension fund on an ongoing basis. "As you would expect with a process of this kind, the BBC is having ongoing discussions with the pension trustees about the pension fund arrangements following the sale of BBC Resources. "The trustees are committed to ensuring the scheme is properly funded to meet its future obligations." · To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 7239 9857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 7278 2332. · If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". 
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