ITV PLC

Sky is buying ITV's media and entertainment business in a deal worth £1.6 billion. The takeover still needs regulatory approval from Ofcom, which will examine its impact on competition and media plurality. ITV's channels and ITVX will remain free-to-air, and all public service broadcasting obligations, including regional news, will continue in full. Sky has committed that from 6pm to 9:30pm, ITV's evening content must be original programming, and the deal promises more sport on free-to-air television. ITV News and Sky News will remain separate editorial voices.

ITV has agreed to sell its Media & Entertainment business to Comcast's Sky for up to 1.6 billion pounds. The deal includes 1.2 billion pounds in cash at completion, Sky's Love Productions valued at 200 million pounds, and a further 200 million pounds contingent on 2027 advertising revenue. ITV will retain ITV Studios as a standalone production and distribution business, while its free-to-air channels and streaming service ITVX will transfer to Sky. The company expects net cash proceeds of 1.05 billion pounds, with around 950 million pounds to be returned to shareholders. ITV also backed its full-year outlook, with total advertising revenue projected to rise about 8% in the second quarter.

British stocks edged higher on Monday as diplomatic developments over Ukraine, the funeral of Iran's late supreme leader, and a fresh OPEC+ output increase were weighed alongside a busy UK economic calendar. The FTSE 100 was up 0.26%, while Germany's DAX was down 0.02% and France's CAC 40 rose 0.30%. Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone for nearly 90 minutes on Sunday, with Trump reaffirming his readiness to facilitate the earliest possible cessation of hostilities in Ukraine. Iran began a 12-hour funeral procession in Tehran for slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with his successor Mojtaba Khamenei not appearing in public since the February 28 airstrike. Seven OPEC+ countries agreed to raise combined production by 188,000 barrels per day from August, the fifth straight monthly increase, while Brent crude for September delivery was down 0.42% at $71.82 a barrel. In UK corporate news, EasyJet agreed to a £5.5 billion takeover by U.S. investment firm Castlelake at £6.90 per share, and ITV agreed to sell its media and entertainment division to Sky for £1.6 billion.