ITV shares fall almost 10% as Liberty Global sells half its stake for £135m

ITV shares fell almost 10% yesterday after majority shareholder Liberty Global revealed it had halved its stake in the company.

The US-based outfit’s Liberty Global Ventures division offloaded more than 193 million shares, raising around £135m.

Liberty Global now only holds a 5% stake in the Love Island broadcaster, but said the sale had been motivated by rebalancing its portfolio, rather than ITV’s performance.

The company, which also sold a 5% stake in telco Vodafone in August, had held its stake in the PSB since 2015, when shares topped out at more than £2.65 each.

Yesterday’s news sent shares down almost 10% from 74.45p to 67p, before recovering to 69.85p this morning.

ITV has been at the centre of takeover speculation for years while more recent reports emerged last November, with production and distribution division ITV Studios of particular interest. 

Early stage talks were reportedly held with Abu Dhabi-backed investment group RedBird IMI about a potential merger with All3Media, while fellow private equity groups CVC and Blackstone were also reportedly circling ITVS, along with other established industry players including Banijay. No deal has yet emerged.

Investment firm Redwheel is now the largest shareholder in ITV with a 6% stake. 

Liberty confirmed its sale in a statement: “As stated in our Q1 2025 earnings, we’re actively managing our Liberty Growth portfolio, disposing of certain assets while prioritising our scale-based investments. As part of that process we are divesting part of our stake in ITV.”