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ITV dismisses Endemol bid

ITV will not launch a takeover bid for debt-ridden production company Endemol, although the UK broadcaster’s CEO has laid out his ambitions for international expansion.

The network was linked to a bid for the Big Brother producer earlier this year, but Adam Crozier said ITV’s focus is on increasing original commissions through its own production arm, ITV Studios (ITVS).

ITV and ITVS had a somewhat fractured relationship when Crozier joined the broadcaster almost two years ago. He said he is now focused on rebuilding that partnership before exploring acquisition opportunities, particularly overseas.

Speaking at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch in London yesterday, he said: “We have said that for now we are absolutely focused on doing it organically. When you inherit something that isn’t working, the worst thing you can do is bolt other stuff on to it, because the danger is you just make the situation worse. We have spent some time sorting out ITV Studios, getting it right.

“Increasingly, as we go forward, we’ll have a mixed economy where we will start to work in partnership with other people. We will look to take, perhaps, some stakes in some organizations. I have no doubt that in time there will be some acquisitions, particularly internationally, because we want to go internationally. But for now it’s about attracting the best talent into ITV.”

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When he joined ITV in April 2010, Crozier launched a five-year transformation plan to help improve the commercial broadcaster’s fortunes. He said work is now ahead of schedule, as he aims to turn ITV into “a worldwide player, not just a UK broadcaster.”

“The most important thing is ITV is in a very different financial situation to the one it was in two years ago,” said Crozier. “We had a net debt of £600m (US$943m). By the turn of the year we will be net cash positive. It puts us in a much stronger position to make sure we invest beyond our transformation.

“We’re ahead of where we expected to be at this stage and that’s really good, solid progress. But we’re about 30% of where we need to get to, so there’s some way to go before we’re the organisation I would like to see.

“I want an ITV that can compete on a worldwide basis and provide real competition to the BBC, Sky, Time Warner and Google.”

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