ITV is no longer interested in buying cinema advertising business Pearl & Dean, which SMG had hoped to sell for up to £20 million.
According to reports in the trade press, ITV has pulled out of a possible deal as it was worried that a purchase would be blocked by competition authorities.
ITV currently owns Carlton Screen Advertising which controls 75% of the cinema advertising market, whilst Pearl & Dean controls the other 25%, meaning that a deal would effectively have given ITV a monopoly on the cinema advertising business.
Alternative buyers for Pearl & Dean could include Clear Channel, JCDecaux, Titan Outdoor, CBS Outdoor.
SMG put Pearl & Dean and Primesight, its outdoor advertising business, up for sale in September (see SMG To Sell Pearl & Dean And Primesight).
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