ITV to buy UTV's television business for GBP100m

ITV has agreed to acquire Northern Irish broadcaster UTV Media’s television assets for £100m.

The FTSE 100 broadcaster announced the deal on Monday, which is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.

Once the deal is approved, ITV will hold 13 of the 15 regional licences for the Channel 3 network.

It leaves UTV Media with just its radio and digital assets including UTV Radio GB, which runs talkSPORT.

Chief executive Adam Crozier said ITV already had a long-standing relationship with UTV and intended to further strengthen the Northern Irish channel's offering with more ITV programmes.

"UTV Television's strategic objectives are closely aligned with our own and we are very pleased that they are joining the ITV family.”

UTV Media chief executive John McCann said the TV business has been built over many years on a mix of high quality local programming around an attractive network schedule.

“Becoming part of the ITV family is by far the best way to take UTV's television business forward with an ongoing focus to provide brilliant television to viewers right across Ireland."

CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler said the deal is good for ITV’s market reach in Ireland.

"But [the deal] does depart from the broadcaster’s recent strategy of moving away from advert-depend businesses."

At 1051 BST, ITV shares were up 0.3p to 249p, while UTV Media shares were up 10.75p to 184.25p.