Peppermint, the TV licence trading arm of the beleaguered Helkon group, has been sold to its management.

The deal, sees the 51.1% interest held by wholly owned subsidiary Helkon International Production, sold to Peppermint's management for an undisclosed sum. The company is now 100% owned by its management.

The disposal was approved by Helkon's court appointed insolvency administrator Axel Bierbach, who judged that the company is not critical to the ongoing business of Helkon. In a statement Helkon said that it had been trying to focus on the core business of national licence trading since February this year. As such, an international trading operation with offices in Munich and Singapore was not a priority. However, it also said that existing business relations between Helkon and Peppermint will remain unchanged.

Established some three years ago by Michael Knobloch, Peppermint has built up a library of over 10,000 hours of TV programming under two brands Peppermint and Pepperkids spanning animation, current affairs, education and drama.

After a long struggle, film and TV group Helkon filed for insolvency last week.