Liberty Global, the US media and telecoms group founded by billionaire John Malone, has sold roughly half of its long-held 10% stake in ITV.
The British broadcaster has been the subject of persistent takeover rumours and has seen its share price dip by 8% to 68.5p since the news.
Liberty said it was selling about 191 million shares, worth approximately £140m at ITV’s latest closing price.
The sale, managed by BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank, reduces the firm’s holding to around 5%.
It first acquired its ITV stake in 2015 after purchasing shares from BSkyB the previous year in a move initially seen as a strategic play to block rival bidders.
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Since then, ITV’s share price has fallen by around two-thirds as the broadcaster has faced growing competition from streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon, alongside pressure from a weakening advertising market.
The FTSE 250 constituent still holds a market cap of around £2.58 billion despite the sale.
In a statement, Liberty said: “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.”