US cable group Liberty Global has snapped up BSkyB’s 6.4 percent stake in ITV, Britain’s biggest commercial broadcaster. <br /><br />ITV’s shares surged on speculation that this was the start of moves by Liberty towards a full takeover of the UK broadcaster. <br /><br />Liberty denied that was its intention, but some in the financial world are still hopeful of a bid sometime in the future. <br /><br />Liberty – which is owned by Billionaire John Malone, sometimes known as the Cable Cowboy – bought British cable operator Virgin Media as part of a European expansion last year.<br /><br />Malone made his fortune through a series of deals that transformed and ultimately consolidated the US cable industry into one dominated by a few big players. Liberty Global is now also present in 12 European companies.<br /><br />The sale of the ITV shares, at a price of 481 million pounds (608 million euros), may also indicate that BSkyB is looking to raise cash to push ahead with its own expansion plans. <br /><br />It has been in talks to purchase Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland.<br /><br />This is just the latest in a string of deals in the global media sector.<br /><br />The big one is Rupert Murdoch attempt to buy Time Warner. That was rejected but the tycoon is reportedly ‘determined’ to make it happen. <br /><br />Time Warner investors say Murdoch, who is Chairman and Chief Executive of 21st Century Fox, would have to raise his bid to as much as $95 a share and boost its cash component to wrap up a merger. <br /><br />Murdoch’s initial offer was about $85 a share, made up of 60 percent cash and 40 percent non-voting stock of 21st Century Fox.<br /><br />As one major institutional shareholder told Reuters: “It’s a corporate poker game for sure, and Murdoch never plays his best card first. There’s always another card left to be played.” <br /><br />with Reuters
