Carrott rakes in pounds 11m after Millionaire sale.

Byline: By Hugo Duncan 

COMEDIAN Jasper Carrott collected pounds 11million yesterday from the sale of hit TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

The Brummie comic held a 15 per cent stake in the production company behind the series.

And he cashed in when it was sold in a pounds 106million deal.

Millionaire founder Paul Smith also banked pounds 26million in the deal, which put an end to the ownership hopes of show host Chris Tarrant.

It was rumoured in August that Tarrant was lining up a pounds 100million bid for the series with fellow Millionaire executives and US private equity firm Carlyle Group.

Tarrant has hosted Millionaire since it launched on ITV in 1998 and has handed out pounds 45million in prize money.

It is now a phenomenon in more than 100 countries.

Dutch 2waytraffic are the new owners. They paid out for the Target Group, who include Complete Communications Corporation Limited - the parent company of Millionaire producers Celador.

There were rumours that Endemol, the firm behind Big Brother and Deal Or No Deal, were also interested.

Buyers 2waytraffic were set up in 2004 by three former Endemol executives.

The deal saw them pick up the library of Celador International, which includes You Are What You Eat and Mr & Mrs.

CAPTION(S):

WINDFALL: Carrott