Scripps Networks Interactive has emerged as the surprise favourite to buy a majority stake in TVN, Poland’s second largest commercial broadcaster.
Citing two sources close to negotiations on the sale, Puls Biznesu reports that ITI has received two binding offers and the one by Scripps, at over PLN20 (€5.3) a share, is the highest.
Scripps has also submitted many ideas about how to grow TVN and its current owners are encouraged by the fact the company, which does not have a presence in the Polish market, will therefore have no need to implement mass redundancies.
The 51% stake in TVN, owned by ITI and Canal+, has already attracted interest from – amongst others – Time Warner, Discovery and 21st Century Fox.
However, last month Bauer Media Group emerged as a favourite.
A deal was expected by the end of last month but has yet to materialise.
