Rivals circle ITV ahead of Sky stake appeal result

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 14-Jul-08, 09:00

LONDON - As BSkyB waits to hear the result of its appeal against the ruling that it must sell down its 17.9% stake in ITV, several media companies including RTL and Endemol have approached the terrestrial broadcaster about buying the stake.

At the end of January, Sky was ordered by the Competition Commission to reduce its stake to no more than 7.5%, in order to alleviate concerns that its influence on ITV restricted competition.

If its appeal fails, it will have to dispose of the majority of its stake and may look to sell it to one party to maximise its value.

The Observer has reported that several media companies have approached Michael Grade, ITV's executive chairman, about his stance on them buying the stake as a strategic investment prior to a possible bid.

The list of interested parties include Five-owner RTL, 'Big Brother' producer Endemol, Italy's Mediaset and media billionaire Haim Saban.

It is believed that RTL would be likely to ally with a private equity group, possibly Apax, to make a bid.

Today's Financial Times quoted Endemol investor John de Mol as refusing to rule out a bid for ITV. The FT said the appointment of Ynon Kreiz, a close ally of Saban, as chief executive of Endemol has fed speculation about a tie-up between it and ITV.

The Observer report came after ITV shares closed on Friday at a new low of 38.4p, giving the broadcaster a market capitalisation of around £1.5bn.

By 8.30am this morning its share price had leapt 8% to 41.4p.

Sky's 17.9% stake would be worth just under £300m at that price, compared with the £940m it paid in November 2006. Sky's purchase was widely seen as a way to stop cable rival NTL, now Virgin Media, getting its hands on ITV.