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Important information: The value of investments can go down as well as up so you may get back less than you invest. Investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. This is a third-party news feed and may not reflect Fidelity’s views.

ITV shares surge on talks with Sky on £1.6bn sale of broadcast arm

(Sharecast News) - ITV on Friday confirmed it was in preliminary discussions regarding a possible sale of its broadcasting business to Comcast-owned Sky for an enterprise value of £1.6bn, sending shares in the company surging by a fifth. It added that there could be no certainty on the terms of any potential sale of the business - which contains its TV channels and ITVX streaming service - or whether any transaction will take place.

ITV's largest single shareholder, Liberty Global, which jointly owns Virgin Media O2 with Spanish telecoms operator Telefónica, last month halved its 10% stake in ITV.

The UK broadcaster's value has slumped in recent years as streaming services such as Netflix have grabbed market share from traditional TV operators. ITV on Thursday said it was cutting £35m from its budgets amid a weak macroeconomic environment and advertiser uncertainty ahead of the government's Budget later this month.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com

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Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

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