(Reuters) -Shares of British broadcaster ITV fell more than 12% on Wednesday, after the company’s largest shareholder, Liberty Global, halved its stake to about 5%.
Liberty Global Ventures, a unit of the U.S. cable group, sold 193.4 million ITV shares to institutional investors in a block trade at an undisclosed price, a bookrunner said, raising about 135 million pounds ($181.18 million).
Following Liberty Global’s share sale, specialist investment firm Redwheel will become the largest shareholder in ITV with a 6% stake, as per LSEG data.
The stake sale through an accelerated bookbuild comes at a crucial time for the British firm as it tackles challenges stemming from streaming rivals and a weak advertising market.
In July, ITV posted a 7% decline in its total advertising revenue for the first half of the year, although it was smaller than analysts’ consensus of an 8% fall.
Liberty Global has agreed to a 60-day lock-up period on further share sales in ITV, with BNP Paribas and Deutsche Numis acting as joint global coordinators and bookrunners on the placing.
($1 = 0.7451 pounds)
(Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Subhranshu Sahu)
