ITV rejects consortium cash injection proposal

ITV today said it had rejected an approach from a private equity consortium that would have loaded the broadcaster with large amounts of debt.

The UK’s largest commercial broadcaster said the proposal from Apax Partners, the Blackstone Group and the investment arm of Goldman Sachs was not in the interests of all its shareholders.

It was responding to reports that the private equity firms were willing to inject as much as £1.5bn (€2.1bn) into ITV in return for a controlling stake.

The broadcaster confirmed this plan, which have led to a substantial sum of money being returned to investors and “a very material increase in ITV’s level of debt”.

A report in the Daily Telegraph today said the consortium wanted to return as much as 86p per share or £3.55bn (€5.12bn) to investors – equivalent to around three-quarters of the market value of ITV.

ITV said its board had examined the proposal in the context of the company’s own strategic plans, but feared that shareholders who did not wish to retain its shares would not have been able to gain an appropriate premium if they sold out.

“The board therefore unanimously concluded that the proposal could not be in the best interests of all shareholders and accordingly rejected it,” ITV said.