Shares in UK broadcaster ITV jump after reported bid interest

LONDON (Reuters) -Shares in ITV jumped on Monday on media reports that the British broadcaster behind “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here” and “Coronation Street” could be a takeover target for a team led by CVC Capital Partners.

Sky News reported on Saturday that a prolonged period of share price weakness meant various bidders were circling ITV and some had held early stage discussions about teaming up to try to buy the company.

ITV is a commercial broadcaster which also has a production unit, ITV Studios, which made the dramas “Rivals” for Disney+ and “Ludwig” for the BBC.

The stock jumped as much as 9% in early deals on Monday and was trading up 7% to 70 pence at 0845 GMT, set for its biggest one-day jump since March. At 70 pence per share, the company has a market capitalisation of 2.5 billion pounds.

Its share price has fallen 40% in the last three years, dragged down by worries over advertising spend and the profitability of its ITVX streaming service, and prompting analysts to suggest carving up the company would boost its value.

ITV Studios could be worth more than the parent company upon a demerger, according to Sky News.

Sky said private equity firm CVC was planning to team up with a European broadcaster like France’s Groupe TF1, and the pair would then split the company with CVC taking on Studios and the broadcasting arm going to TF1.

All3Media, owned by RedBird Capital, and Mediawan, backed by the private equity giant KKR, were also interested in ITV Studios, Sky News said.

ITV declined to comment. CVC did not immediately respond.

(Reporting by Samuel Indyk and Sarah young ; editing by Dhara Ranasinghe and Kate Holton)