ITV, UTV deal to conclude in March

Northern Irish broadcaster UTV expects the sale of its television business to ITV for £100m (US$154m) to go through by the end of March.

UK commercial broadcaster ITV reached a conditional agreement for the deal last October following the poor performance of UTV Ireland since its launch in January. The channel made an £11.5m loss in its first year.

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland approved the sale in December, while the Consumer Protection Commission gave the agreement the green light earlier this month.

However, Ireland’s minister of communications, energy and natural resources still has to consider the sale.

UTV said it expects the deal will result in net cash proceeds of €98m (US$106m), of which it will return €55m to shareholders at a breakdown of 57p per share. It will now turn its attentions to its radio interests, with plans to launch three new stations in the UK this year.

Earlier this week, UTV Ireland head of channel Mary Curtis, who joined in 2014, announced she was leaving her role.