Overview
- Sky has agreed terms to acquire ITV’s Media & Entertainment arm for about £1.6 billion, covering ITV’s linear channels and the ITVX streaming service.
- The deal would leave ITV Studios independent and transfer Love Productions to ITV Studios for an estimated £80–120 million, with an additional performance‑linked earn‑out of roughly £200 million.
- Lawyers are finalizing documentation and Reuters sources said the parties could announce the transaction within roughly two weeks after reporting progress on Thursday.
- The sale requires regulatory clearance from the Competition and Markets Authority and Ofcom and needs a final decision from culture secretary Lisa Nandy, with Channel 4 and Channel 5 expected to raise competition objections.
- If approved, the combination would pair Sky’s pay‑TV scale with ITV’s free‑to‑air reach to strengthen a UK challenger to Netflix, Amazon and Disney+ and could affect where major shows and advertising revenue are placed in the market.