ITV Sell MUTV Stake

Last updated : 18 November 2007 By Editor

The Guardian:

ITV has sold its stake in Manchester United's television channel MUTV, earning another £3.3m for its disposal programme.

The broadcaster sold its one-third share in MUTV to the football club, which already owned a third of the channel. The remaining third is owned by Sky Ventures, a subsidiary of pay-TV giant BSkyB.

Today's sale finally draws a line under ITV's interest in the football industry, a legacy of the late 1990s when media companies hoped to share in the boom for football rights.

Earlier this year, ITV sold its stakes in Arsenal and Liverpool football clubs for a combined return of £82m. However, it is still to complete the sale of its interest in Arsenal and Liverpool's broadband businesses.

The broadcaster's ongoing disposal on non-core assets has yielded more than £500m since the creation of ITV plc from the merger of Carlton and Granada in 2004.