ITV drops JP Morgan after eOne failure

Tutankhamun will premiere on October 16

UK commercial broadcaster ITV has dropped its corporate broker JP Morgan and taken on Citigroup following its failed attempt to buy production and distribution giant Entertainment One (eOne).

Reports suggest the decision to get rid of JP Morgan (formerly known as JP Morgan Cazenove) was linked to ITV’s recent failure to take over the Canadian prodco.

In August, ITV withdrew its proposal to acquire eOne just over two weeks after its initial £1bn (US$1.3bn) bid was knocked back by the Peppa Pig owner.

At the time, the broadcaster issued a statement to its shareholders saying that although it still believed there was “strategic logic” in buying eOne, it would not be making a higher bid.

However, according to one source in the report, ITV had been looking at changing its corporate broker long before the eOne bid. Credit Suisse is also working for ITV, alongside Citi.

ITV declined to comment.

The company was thought to have been eyeing the Canadian producer and distributor since the first quarter of this year, although rumours of takeover talks between the two were brushed off by eOne in April.

ITV has been on a buying spree for some time now, recently acquiring UK indie Twofour, Poldark producer Mammoth Screen and John de Mol’s Talpa Media.

Last week, the company cut its drama team after making two of its commissioning editors, Charlie Hampton and Sarah Conroy, redundant.

The redundancies came after ITV CEO Adam Crozier said the company would have to make £25m (US$33m) in cuts following the UK’s decision in June to leave the European Union.

In other news, the main ITV channel in the UK has set a premiere date for Tutankhamun, the four-part miniseries starring Max Irons and Sam Neill.

The ITV Studios-produced drama, which tells the story of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1905, will premiere on Sunday October 16. ITV Studios Global Entertainment is handling international sales.