Pay-TV company BSkyB has paid around £940m for a 17.9% stake in commercial broadcaster ITV, but it says it does not intend to make a full bid for the company.
BSkyB said in a statement it acquired 696 million ITV shares at 135p each - a 16.6% premium to ITV's closing share price of 115.75p on Friday. At 135p a share, ITV is valued at around £5.16 billion.
British cable operator NTL has already said it has approached ITV about combining the two companies.
Shares in ITV climbed earlier on Friday after a report that RTL Group, Europe's biggest commercial broadcaster, might team up with private equity firms to bid. The Financial Times said RTL was working on a possible offer for ITV worth £5 billion plus.
'BSkyB wishes to explore options to create value in the interests of both BSkyB's and ITV's shareholders,' it said in a statement. BSkyB said it intended to be a supportive shareholder and said it did not intend its stake in ITV to exceed 19.9% or to make a full offer for the company.
