BSkyB (BSY) raised eyebrows when it sold its 6.4 per cent stake in ITV (ITV) to international cable giant Liberty Global for £481m last week. The pay-TV and telecoms provider may have found the 185p a share deal - a 37 per cent return on its investment since 2006 - too juicy to pass up.
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The stake's value was limited as increasing it would likely have drawn the ire of antitrust regulators. And the sale proceeds should replenish BSkyB's war chest ahead of further skirmishes with BT over broadcasting rights. The battle has already driven a 7.5 per cent rise in BSkyB's programming costs in the nine months to 31 March, widening its adjusted operating loss by 8.5 per cent to £910m.