Deal Sweetener?16 May 2026 12:29
What is Love Productions worth?
Love Productions’ most recent filed accounts (to December 2023) show revenue of £72m and EBITDA of £22m — a strong margin of ~31%. Even pre-pandemic (FY June 2019), revenue was £61.4m with pre-tax profit of £22m , so the business has been consistently highly profitable.
For a format owner of this quality, the relevant valuation range is wide. Content media M&A transactions trade at EV/EBITDA multiples of 8x–17x, with revenue multiples of 1x–7x. Love’s positioning within that range depends on a few factors:
Premium factors pushing toward the top: Bake Off is a genuinely rare asset — an evergreen format with close to 40 international versions, decades of brand equity, and strong C4 broadcaster relationship. The Piano is a fast-growing second pillar. The business is highly profitable and cash-generative.
Discount factors pulling toward the bottom: The format rights situation is complicated — BBC Studios holds international Bake Off format sales rights outside North America until 2028, with US/Canadian rights retained by Sky. Whoever acquires Love doesn’t get clean control of the Bake Off international rights package immediately. That’s a significant haircut. Additionally, the C4 commissioner relationship is the key dependency — Love doesn’t own the Bake Off IP outright; they produce it under a deal with C4.
A realistic standalone valuation range:
• Low case: 8–10× EBITDA = £175m–£220m
• Base case: 10–12× EBITDA = £220m–£265m
• High case (format premium): 13–15× EBITDA = £285m–£330m
The central estimate would be around £200m–£250m for an arm’s-length transaction, reflecting the rights complexity discounting the headline format premium.
Deal Sweetener?
Sky/Comcast wants the M&E deal to close. ITV Studios wants Love.
Sky could transfer Love to ITVS for a nominal £1 as part of the overall £1.6bn transaction mechanics.
Sky’s motivation: the £1.6bn headline number still clears, Comcast books a clean disposal of a non-core asset, and the “generosity” on Love greases the deal.
ITV’s motivation: Love is transformative for the unscripted ITVS slate without increasing ITV’s cash outlay.
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