Granada looking to double stake in Ireland's TV3

LONDON - In its first move since the news of the ITV merger, Granada has signalled its intention to take over Irish commercial broadcaster TV3, which could signal Carlton-Granada's intention to buy up the remaining parts of ITV.

Granada already owns 45% of TV3 but, according to reports, it now intends to double its stake, targeting the £30m-plus share owned by Canadian media group CanWest Global Communications.

Carlton and Granada could make a fresh offer for Scottish Media Group's Grampian and Scottish ITV franchises. Both companies had talks with SMG prior to the the merger announcement on Friday.

However, nothing came of the talks and SMG then went ahead and put the "for sale" sign on its Herald newspaper business.

Aside from the two Scottish ITV franchises, only Ulster and Channel fall outside the Carlton-Granada deal, which has yet to be approved by regulators.

The Carlton-Granada merger itself can not go through until the passing of the government's communications bill next year, although this is not seen as a problem. The issue of the companies two sales houses is also set to be resolved.

The remaining 10% of TV3 is owned by a group of investors linked to rock group U2, including the band's manager Paul McGuinness.

Further details of the Carlton-Granada merger, announced on Friday, are expected later this week or early next week, as lawyers continue to hammer out the deal.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .

Topics

Market Reports

Get unprecedented new-business intelligence with access to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s new Market Reports.

Find out more

Enjoying ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s content?

 Get unlimited access to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s premium content for your whole company with a corporate licence.

Upgrade access

Looking for a new job?

Get the latest creative jobs in advertising, media, marketing and digital delivered directly to your inbox each day.

Create an alert now

Partner content