ITV Shares Up on Mediaset Speculation

LONDON, September 8: ITV’s
stock price rose almost 7 percent today following reports that Mediaset is
interested in acquiring a stake in the British commercial broadcaster.

Gina Nieri, director of
Mediaset, told The Telegraph newspaper in the U.K. that the Italian outfit is
eyeing possible acquisitions, but “no real negotiations” have begun.

Speculation about a change
in ownership in ITV has been spurred by the British competition commission’s
decision that BSkyB must lower its interest in the company from 17.9 percent to
less than 7.5 percent.

“As all other European
broadcasters, Mediaset is closely watching the ITV stake owned by BSkyB to see
what happens,” Mediaset spokesman Paolo Calvani confirmed to Bloomberg.

—By Mansha Daswani