ITV share price: Broadcaster acquires TV producer Talpa Media

ITV Plc (LON:ITV) has agreed to acquire Talpa Media B.V., the production company behind popular TV programmes such as The Voice, I Love My Country and Dating In The Dark. The UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster announced the move today, saying that it would pay €500 million (around £355 million) initially for 100 percent of Talpa’s equity capital. Depending on Talpa’s future business performance, the total sum could reach to up to €1.1 billion, ITV said.

Talpa was established by John de Mol, the creator of the hugely successful reality programme Big Brother. The company is focused on developing new formats, aimed at large audiences. Over the past six years, it has made 75 shows airing in more than 180 countries. Last year, Talpa saw pre-tax profit of €61 million on revenue of €233 million.
ITV chief executive officer Alan Croizer commented: “Great content is at the heart of ITV’s growth strategy and the acquisition of Talpa builds on the success of our international content business and is absolutely in line with our desire to create and own formats that travel.” He described the deal as “a great opportunity for ITV to accelerate its progress in building a global content business of scale”.
In today’s trading, ITV shares were up 1.9 percent at 251.90p, as of 08:30 UTC. The stock has risen 17.3 percent since the start of the year, boosting the company’s market capitalisation to £10.1 billion.
According to the Financial Times, the 23 analysts offering 12 month price targets for ITV have a median target of 250.00p, with a high estimate of 310.00p and a low estimate of 194.00p. As of March 10, 2015, the consensus forecast amongst 30 polled investment analysts covering ITV has it that the company will outperform the market. This stance has been maintained since the sentiment of investment analysts improved on May 07, 2014, the FT notes.
As of 11:05 GMT, Thursday, 12 March, ITV plc share price is 250.15p.