By Georgina Prodhan and Kate Holton
LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - British pay-TV group BSkyB sold a 10.4 percent stake in commercial broadcaster ITV Plc for around 196 million pounds ($305.4 million) on Monday, to finally bring an end to a long-running legal battle.
Morgan Stanley said on Monday it was acting as sole bookrunner in the placing, which was intended to cut BSkyB's stake in its fellow British broadcaster to one vote below 7.5 percent, as required by competition authorities.
'Sky intends to retain its residual 7.5 percent investment in ITV for the medium term and to remain a committed shareholder of ITV,' BSkyB said in a late statement.
BSkyB had bought a 17.9 percent stake in ITV in 2006 for 940 million pounds, or 135 pence per share, effectively blocking cable group NTL, now renamed Virgin Media Inc , from buying ITV and creating a larger and more powerful competitor.
ITV shares closed down 2.3 percent at 51 pence on Monday, before the placing was announced.
BSkyB closed flat at 524.5p.
BSkyB's original investment sparked a fierce public row between the company, led by its then-chief executive James Murdoch, and Virgin Media's largest shareholder, British entrepreneur Richard Branson.
Branson accused the Murdoch media empire of being a 'threat to democracy' while politicians also questioned the move.
The matter was finally referred to Britain's Competition Commission in 2007 and in 2008 BSkyB was ordered to cut its stake to below 7.5 percent. Since then, it has been through a series of appeals, all of which it lost.
BSkyB could have appealed against the latest ruling, from Britain's Court of Appeal, but its chances of success would have been slim as the court said it saw no grounds for a further appeal.
Long-running uncertainty over the future of the stake has also helped fuel takeover speculation around ITV, which has struggled with a slump in advertising revenue and with programming regulation it considers an unfair burden.
RTL Group Plc, Europe's biggest commercial free-to-air broadcaster, has often been linked with a bid for ITV as it owns Five, a smaller UK broadcaster, but a spokesman declined to comment on Monday.
(Additional reporting by Daisy Ku; editing by Dan Lalor, David Holmes and Andre Grenon)
($1 = 0.6418 pound) ($1=.6418 Pound) Keywords: ITV BSKYB/ (kate.holton@thomsonreuters.com; +4420 7542 8560; Reuters Messaging kate.holton.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - British pay-TV group BSkyB sold a 10.4 percent stake in commercial broadcaster ITV Plc for around 196 million pounds ($305.4 million) on Monday, to finally bring an end to a long-running legal battle.
Morgan Stanley said on Monday it was acting as sole bookrunner in the placing, which was intended to cut BSkyB's stake in its fellow British broadcaster to one vote below 7.5 percent, as required by competition authorities.
'Sky intends to retain its residual 7.5 percent investment in ITV for the medium term and to remain a committed shareholder of ITV,' BSkyB said in a late statement.
BSkyB had bought a 17.9 percent stake in ITV in 2006 for 940 million pounds, or 135 pence per share, effectively blocking cable group NTL, now renamed Virgin Media Inc , from buying ITV and creating a larger and more powerful competitor.
ITV shares closed down 2.3 percent at 51 pence on Monday, before the placing was announced.
BSkyB closed flat at 524.5p.
BSkyB's original investment sparked a fierce public row between the company, led by its then-chief executive James Murdoch, and Virgin Media's largest shareholder, British entrepreneur Richard Branson.
Branson accused the Murdoch media empire of being a 'threat to democracy' while politicians also questioned the move.
The matter was finally referred to Britain's Competition Commission in 2007 and in 2008 BSkyB was ordered to cut its stake to below 7.5 percent. Since then, it has been through a series of appeals, all of which it lost.
BSkyB could have appealed against the latest ruling, from Britain's Court of Appeal, but its chances of success would have been slim as the court said it saw no grounds for a further appeal.
Long-running uncertainty over the future of the stake has also helped fuel takeover speculation around ITV, which has struggled with a slump in advertising revenue and with programming regulation it considers an unfair burden.
RTL Group Plc, Europe's biggest commercial free-to-air broadcaster, has often been linked with a bid for ITV as it owns Five, a smaller UK broadcaster, but a spokesman declined to comment on Monday.
(Additional reporting by Daisy Ku; editing by Dan Lalor, David Holmes and Andre Grenon)
($1 = 0.6418 pound) ($1=.6418 Pound) Keywords: ITV BSKYB/ (kate.holton@thomsonreuters.com; +4420 7542 8560; Reuters Messaging kate.holton.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.