IS
Isonstine
Founding member
Well, it's being reported and the shares have shot up...not usually smoke without fire.
That's from Media Guardian, and it's being reported elsewhere too - Sky interestingly ends with the line of "OFCOM is believed to be broadly sympathetic to Mr Allen's point of view." Woe betide us.
Here's some links for you to click:
BBC report
Media Guardian
From Sky
Quote:
ITV shares leap on takeover talk
Chris Tryhorn, City correspondent
Monday July 4, 2005
Shares in ITV jumped today following a report that US media giant Time Warner was lining up a bid for the broadcaster.
Shares in the network rose by 10p or 8% 134.75p in early trade, a 15-month high, before slipping back to 130.25p by 10.30am.
Speculation about a takeover has been persistent since the company was launched following the merger of Granada and Carlton in February last year.
According to the latest report, in the Mail on Sunday, Time Warner is preparing a bid at 165p a share with private equity group Apax and investment bank Goldman Sachs.
The former director general of the BBC, Greg Dyke, who is an adviser to Apax, was named as a potential leader of the bid.
Many analysts remain sceptical that a bid for ITV can work financially in adding value to the £5.3bn company.
There are also doubts that new managers could match the deft political touch of the ITV chief executive, Charles Allen, who last week secured a £135m reduction in the broadcaster's analogue licence fees.
"These rumours have been going on such a long time - frankly who knows?" said Paul Richards, a media analyst at Numis Securities.
He said he felt ITV had a sound strategy in place but that an American bidder could feel there was room for improvement.
"If you look at the experience of the US networks they have done a terrific job managing decline. Perhaps they feel there's something they can bring to the ITV party."
Chris Tryhorn, City correspondent
Monday July 4, 2005
Shares in ITV jumped today following a report that US media giant Time Warner was lining up a bid for the broadcaster.
Shares in the network rose by 10p or 8% 134.75p in early trade, a 15-month high, before slipping back to 130.25p by 10.30am.
Speculation about a takeover has been persistent since the company was launched following the merger of Granada and Carlton in February last year.
According to the latest report, in the Mail on Sunday, Time Warner is preparing a bid at 165p a share with private equity group Apax and investment bank Goldman Sachs.
The former director general of the BBC, Greg Dyke, who is an adviser to Apax, was named as a potential leader of the bid.
Many analysts remain sceptical that a bid for ITV can work financially in adding value to the £5.3bn company.
There are also doubts that new managers could match the deft political touch of the ITV chief executive, Charles Allen, who last week secured a £135m reduction in the broadcaster's analogue licence fees.
"These rumours have been going on such a long time - frankly who knows?" said Paul Richards, a media analyst at Numis Securities.
He said he felt ITV had a sound strategy in place but that an American bidder could feel there was room for improvement.
"If you look at the experience of the US networks they have done a terrific job managing decline. Perhaps they feel there's something they can bring to the ITV party."
That's from Media Guardian, and it's being reported elsewhere too - Sky interestingly ends with the line of "OFCOM is believed to be broadly sympathetic to Mr Allen's point of view." Woe betide us.
Here's some links for you to click:
BBC report
Media Guardian
From Sky