ITV could be the subject of a takeover after it emerged that a group of possible bidders had held “early stage” discussions about joining forces to pursue a potential bid.
Industry sources told Sky News that CVC Capital Partners and a major European broadcaster – thought to be France’s Groupe TF1 – were among those which had been looking at the commercial broadcaster.
RedBird Capital-owned All3Media and Mediawan, backed by private equity giant KKR, were also on the list of potential suitors for the ITV Studios production arm.
TF1 is of interest, given its model for the TF1+ streaming service closely mirrors the ITVX formula.
It is not thought that any of the potential bidders are at a stage where they would want to take their bid public.
ITV’s share price, which until recently had been sat at 65.5p, was up 5.60 to 71.1p on Monday morning amid market chatter about the potential takeover.
ITV Studios has developed a successful business making content both for itself and third parties. This has included the recent Disney hit Rivals.
One option, cited by Sky News, is that CVC might look to pick up ITV Studios, while a European broadcaster would take over the broadcasting platform including ITV X.
Earlier this month, ITV said it would look to make £20 million in savings as it looks to recover from the aftermath of the US studio strikes.
