A senior executive at Carlton is understood to have been appointed to oversee the company’s £4.5 billion integration with Granada to create a single ITV company.
The move will serve to reassure some Carlton employees that the deal remains a merger, rather than a take-over by Granada, which is the largest shareholder of the new ITV company with 68% of the equity and £200 million in cash on completion of the deal (see
Carlton And Granada Enter Advanced Merger Talks).
According to The Financial Times, Nick Markham, Carlton’s director of strategy, has been appointed as ITV’s integration project director with responsibility for helping to bring both companies together and combining them with ITV Network Centre.
It is understood that he will work to co-ordinate a ‘100 day integration plan’ with the help of Granada chairman, Charles Allen, who has been appointed chief executive of the new enlarged ITV company.
Markham’s appointment comes exactly a week after Carlton chairman, Michael Green, was forced to give up his long held ambition of becoming chairman designate of ITV plc, following overwhelming pressure from a powerful group of institutional shareholders for him to step down.
The coalition of city investors, led by Fidelity, demanded that an independent non-executive chairman should be appointed to take over from Green following the completion of the merger early next year (see Green Relinquishes Role As ITV Chairman Designate).
Green’s forced departure is understood to have fuelled concerns among Carlton staff because it tipped the delicate balance of power within the combined ITV company significantly towards Granada.
However, Markham’s new role looks likely to be viewed as an attempt to demonstrate that the deal has not become a take-over and that there will be no discrimination in awarded jobs at the enlarged group.
Meanwhile, fears are growing that Granada chief executive, Charles Allen, could follow Carlton’s Michael Green in being forced out by rebel shareholders unless he succeeds in improving the financial fortunes of the merged ITV over the coming months (see Investors Pressure Allen To Improve Fortunes At ITV).
