LONDON (Reuters) -British broadcaster ITV said on Friday it was in talks with pay-TV company Sky, owned by Comcast, over a potential sale of its media and entertainment (M&E) unit for 1.6 billion pounds ($2.15 billion) including debt.
ITV's M&E division, which includes its free-to-air channels and its ITVX streaming platform, is dependent on advertising, and the group has been hit hard by weakness in the ad market.
The group, whose shares are trading around the levels they were 13 years ago, said on
Thursday its ad revenue would be 9% lower in the last quarter of the year.
The potential sale was first reported by Bloomberg, and ITV, which has a market capitalisation of 2.53 billion pounds, called the discussions "preliminary" in its statement.
The British company traces its history back to the regional TV franchises launched in the 1950s, and has build up its Studios production business to offset advertising volatility.
The Studios business has been a focus of takeover speculation in recent years.
Reuters reported earlier this year ITV held early-stage talks with Abu Dhabi-backed group RedBird IMI about a possible merger of their respective production businesses.
French media group Banijay was also reported to have held discussions about a possible offer for ITV's studio business or a full takeover.
ITV's M&E unit made revenue of 955 million pounds ($1.28 billion) and adjusted earnings interest, tax and amortisation of 35 million pounds in the six months to end-June, the company reported in July.
($1 = 0.7451 pounds)
(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Sarah Young)
