Time Warner considering taking over ITV

US Entertainment Group Time Warner is considering taking over the British television broadcaster ITV. They are currently talking with a group of financial investors and the rumored offer is close to a massive USD 11.7 Billion. The rumors first picked up pace when a British Newspaper published it on Sunday.

Some of the prospective investors along with Time Warner are said to be Goldman Sachs and Apax Partners. The value per share is close to around 165 pence for ITV. This is quite a premium on the price of the share of ITV in the market at 124.75 pence. ITV was formed in 2002 on the merger of two entities Carlton Communications and Granada production companies. They entered the stock market last year.

This UK based Television Broadcasting major has long been seen as a potential investment for many American Television Giants. ITV reported a 58% rise in pretax profit to 341 million pounds during fiscal 2004. Their sales grew to 301 billion pounds and they have been performing quite strongly. Even the revenues from the advertisements were up by 12% in the quarter to march 2005.