US EditionITV in 'preliminary' talks over £1.6bn sale of media and entertainment arm to Sky
ITV is negotiating a £1.6 billion deal with Sky to sell its media and entertainment division, excluding ITV Studios, amid a 9% drop in advertising revenue.
- On Friday, ITV plc confirmed preliminary talks to sell its Media & Entertainment business to Sky for an enterprise value of £1.6bn, with shares jumping as much as 19%.
- Facing a softening ad market, ITV plc expects total advertising revenues to slump by around 9% over the final three months of the year as shares hit their lowest levels since April earlier this week.
- The M&E unit includes ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, ITV Quiz, and the ITVX streaming platform, making 955 million pounds revenue and 35 million pounds adjusted earnings in six months to end-June.
- Regulators would need to approve any deal, with Tom Harrington, Enders Analysis warning it would raise concerns as the combined advertising share would be around 70%, prompting CMA investigation.
- If the sale completes, experts say increased scale across TV and streaming could boost revenues and make ITV Studios an instant takeover target for potential buyers like Netflix.
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67 Articles
ITV in Talks Over Possible £1.6Bn Deal to Sell Broadcasting Arm to Sky
ITV has confirmed early stage talks over a possible £1.6 billion deal to sell its broadcasting arm to Sky in a move that would see a major shake-up of Britain’s television sector. Shares in ITV jumped nearly a fifth higher at one stage on Friday after it announced it was in “preliminary discussions” with Sky, later paring back gains to stand around 14% up. It follows reports late on Thursday revealing Comcast-owned Sky was holding talks with ITV…
ITV in talks to sell broadcast operations to Sky’s American owner Comcast
ITV has confirmed it is in discussions over a potential £1.6bn sale of its channels and broadcast operation to Sky, which is owned by the American giant Comcast. It would be the biggest shakeup of British TV in decades giving the biggest commercial broadcaster 70% of the TV ad market. The deal, which would exclude ITV’s lucrative production business, could pave the way for the creation of a UK-focused streaming giant. But it would raise question…
Comcast is in talks to buy ITV's media arm for $2 billion, in a deal that would reshape the British television landscape and boost its international influence.
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