David Elstein, former CEO of Five, along with investment groups Providence Equity and 3i have bought the international TV operations of Crown Media, including the Hallmark Channel in the UK.

The sale, worth $242m, comprises the international versions of the Hallmark Channel, the international broadcasting rights to the programmes in the Crown Media library, and a Denver, Colorado broadcast facility for playout. Crown said today that "substantially all" of the unit's employees will continue to be employed by the new owners.

"We are very pleased to have signed this agreement," said David Evans, president and CEO of Crown Media. "We are confident that the investor group will capitalize on its global media expertise to continue to expand this international business, while we focus our efforts on maintaining the tremendous growth in ratings and distribution we have been able to generate in our domestic business. From a financial perspective, this is an excellent opportunity for our company to reduce leverage and improve our overall capital structure."