NTL has pulled out of a proposed £4.7 million merger with ITV as it believes that a deal is unlikely to be acceptable to NTL.
However, according to reports in the trade press, NTL has reserved the right to make another move if BSkyB sells “all or a material part” of its 17.9% stake in ITV.
Last week it was reported that NTL shareholders wanted the cable giant to forget about bidding for ITV and to concentrate on integrating Telewest and Virgin Mobile (see Shareholders Want NTL To Forget About ITV Merger).
According to the Guardian, NTL said this morning that it has now submitted its views to both the Office of Fair Trading and Ofcom, “because it presents serious competition and public interest issues”.
“The fact that Sky would spend nearly $2bn to acquire its stake immediately following the mere announcement of NTL’s proposed combination, before the ITV board had an opportunity to respond, highlights the magnitude of the competition issues involved.”
At the end of November ITV rejected a bid from NTL (see ITV Rejects NTL Merger Bid) saying that there was: “little, if any, strategic logic for ITV to combine with NTL.”
Related Links
