ITV confirms SDN sale
By Julian Clover
April 23, 2009 09.47 UK
ITV has confirmed it is to sell DTT multiplex operator SDN as part of a range of measures designed to improve the balance sheet of the commercial broadcaster.
A spokeswoman for ITV told Broadband TV News that an investment bank would now be appointed to handle the sale, most probably UBS or Lazard.
SDN was purchased in April 2005 for £134 million (€150m) from a consortium of United Business Media and S4C. NTL Broadcast, which later became part of Arqiva, was also a shareholder.
As the operator of Multiplex A, SDN is responsible for the carriage of channels on the Freeview platform including Five, QVC, CNN. It also provides capacity for the Top Up TV pay operation.
ITV has also announced that its executive chairman Michael Grade is to reduce his role at the conclusion of the current regulatory reviews. Grade will become non-executive chairman and a new CEO appointed.
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