ITV considering selling their stake in Liverpool FC

ITV ponders Arsenal sale
Financial Times
By Tim Burt, Media Editor

ITV, Britain's leading commercial broadcaster, is to review its holdings in Arsenal and Liverpool football clubs as part of a non-core disposal programme.

The company will consider selling the stakes following completion of an imminent £30m share deal that will see its Arsenal holding rise from 5 per cent to almost 10 per cent.

Under a four-year-old commitment, ITV is to increase its stake in Arsenal in the first quarter - triggered by the football club's success in securing planning permission and funding for its new stadium in north London.

The stake in Arsenal and a separate near 10 per cent holding in Liverpool are worth an estimated £40m to £50m.

"If we could find someone to buy the stakes at the right price, we would exit," said one person close to the disposal review.

ITV has already raised £260m from non-core asset sales in the 12 months since the merger of Granada and Carlton, including its book publishing business and stake in Thomson, the French media services and electronics company.

Granada acquired the football club stakes and options to raise its ownership at the height of the dotcom boom, when broadcasters were seeking rights to football coverage on the internet.

Charles Allen, ITV chief executive, has ordered a review or all non-core holdings as part of an asset "clean-up" at the broadcaster.

British Sky Broadcasting has also off-loaded most of its football club holdings. Last year, the company sold its 10 per cent stakes in both Chelsea and Manchester United, followed by the sale of its Sunderland stake.

ITV made no comment on the likely timing of any disposals or whether it has already received approaches for the Arsenal or Liverpool shares.