Liberty Global Increases Its Stake in ITV, the Leading Commercial Broadcaster in the U.K., to 9.9%
31 July 2015 - 4:00PM
Business Wire
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Acquisition of ITV Shares
Liberty Global plc (“Liberty Global”) (NASDAQ: LBTYA, LBTYB,
LBTYK, LILA and LILAK) announced today that it has acquired 138.7
million shares in ITV plc (“ITV”), thereby increasing its existing
stake to a total of 398.5 million shares in ITV or approximately
9.9% of ITV’s ordinary shares outstanding. Liberty Global has at
the same time entered into a hedging transaction with respect to
the ITV shares it has acquired and obtained further financing from
its hedge counterparty. The acquisition of the additional ITV
shares, combined with amending an existing hedging transaction with
respect to ITV shares, will result in net cash being released to
Liberty Global.
CEO Mike Fries stated, “Given ITV's operating and stock price
performance, we were able to increase our stake to 9.9% with no
incremental investment by hedging our existing equity position.
This investment remains an opportunistic one for us in our largest
market. ITV is a well-run company with attractive growth potential,
and we are pleased to increase our position as their largest
shareholder.”
With this level of investment, no prior regulatory approvals are
required. Our stake in ITV and the related hedging arrangements are
attributed to the Liberty Global Group for purposes of our tracking
stock capital structure.
U.K. Takeover Code Note
Liberty Global confirms that it does not intend to make an offer
to acquire ITV.
Although Liberty Global does not intend to make such an offer,
for the purposes of Rule 2.8 of the City Code on Takeovers and
Mergers (the “Code”), Liberty Global does reserve the right, in the
circumstances set out in Note 2 to Rule 2.8 of the Code or with the
consent of the Takeover Panel, to announce an offer or possible
offer or make or participate in an offer or possible offer for ITV
(and/or take any other action which would otherwise be restricted
by Rule 2.8 of the Code) within the next six months following the
date of this announcement. A copy of this announcement will be made
available on Liberty Global’s website.
About Liberty Global
Liberty Global is the largest international cable company with
operations in 14 countries. We connect people to the digital world
and enable them to discover and experience its endless
possibilities. Our market-leading products are provided through
next-generation networks and innovative technology platforms that
connected 27 million customers subscribing to 56 million
television, broadband internet and telephony services at March 31,
2015. In addition, we served five million mobile subscribers and
offered WiFi access across over five million access points.
Liberty Global’s businesses are currently attributed to two
tracking stock groups: the Liberty Global Group (NASDAQ: LBTYA,
LBTYB and LBTYK), which is primarily comprised of our European
operations, and the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ: LILA and LILAK, OTC Link:
LILAB), which is comprised of our operations in Latin America and
the Caribbean.
The consumer brands of the Liberty Global Group include Virgin
Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. Our operations also
include Liberty Global Business Services and Liberty Global
Ventures. The consumer brands of the LiLAC Group include VTR and
Liberty. For more information, please visit
www.libertyglobal.com.
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Liberty GlobalInvestor
Relations:Oskar Nooij, +1 303 220 4218Christian
Fangmann, +49 221 8462 5151John Rea, +1 303 220 4238orCorporate Communications:Marcus Smith, +44
20 7190 6374Bert Holtkamp, +31 20 778 9800Hanne Wolf, +1 303 220
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