Sharewatch: ITV Partners Surge On Merger Decision

Last week’s big movers were ITV partners, Carlton and Granada, which both shot up following the Department of Trade and Industry’s decision to allow their £4 billion merger to go ahead without the divestment of their sales houses (see ITV Cleared To Merge With Sales Houses Intact).

The group also unveiled its management board last week and announced that Michael Green will become chairman of the newly merged company and Charles Allen will become chief executive. The stocks were seen up 27.22% and 15.86% respectively in week on week analysis (see ITV Unveils New Board).

Elsewhere, BSkyB was seen under pressure, down 0.47% on continued concerns over plans for James Murdoch to take the helm at the satellite broadcaster. This has caused friction among institutional shareholders and the stock was seen down 0.47%.

Broader market sentiment was boosted last week by positive economic indicators in the US, which lifted stocks with a strong US bias. WPP was seen up 3.64%.

The closing prices of media company shares on Friday were: