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Something possibly brewing over the pond? Currently up 5.92%. Nice, let's hope it holds.

Anyone interested in to hazard a guess as to what the BT Sport valuation would be? If BT were to receive a bid for it, what would be an acceptable offer? I know that BT have shelled out £9bln on it. Also I know that BT have said that they're only wanting partners, but if the right offer comes in I would think that the BOD would snatch their hand off. BT could use the sale proceeds to fund FTTP and pay down the pension deficit.

Cont...

The government target is to connect 85 per cent of the UK to gigabit-capable fibre by 2025. Jansen promised to “build like fury” after the regulator’s decision, allowing him to go full throttle at broadband and sideline other parts of the business.
Auctions for 5G were also concluded recently and came in less expensive than expected, which was positive for BT’s mobile arm EE.
BT’s entire stock market value is £16 billion, but analysts value Openreach, “legally separated” from BT after an Ofcom edict in 2017, at more than that. Berenberg says £19 billion; Jefferies estimates £27 billion.
As well as BT Sport and a potential sale of Openreach, BT has been slimming down its overseas operations. A former colleague said: “Philip is a very good businessman, but he’s got that impatience and private equity [PE] background to want to get on with things. He’s got a high level of contacts and respect within the PE community, so you can see why he’s seen as a potentially good partner.”
His impatience caused a stir recently. Chairman Jan du Plessis is stepping down after Jansen grew frustrated with the pace of change at BT. Jansen delivered an ultimatum: either the board replace the City veteran or he would resign. He got his way.
Some familiar with their relationship say du Plessis found it difficult to keep up with Jansen. “Du Plessis’s style — very ‘steady ship’ — was never going to work with Phil, who’s much more the PE kind of guy,” said a rival. “Once that battle was won, it cleared the way for more innovation at BT.”
Industry sources expect the focus to turn soon to Openreach and a potential stake sale. After the green light from Ofcom on broadband, there is one more hurdle: BT’s annual results, due out in less than two weeks, are expected to bring news of the funding of its pension scheme, the largest in the country with about 300,000 members. Analysts at Berenberg hope the deficit is down to £7.5 billion. The trustees could OK the sale of a stake in Openreach if it gets a share of the proceeds, or even a stake in the network.
Some, however, believe the complexities around the pensions and regulation among other things could still stand in Jansen’s way. It would also likely be a divisive political topic — not that such considerations have ever stopped canny private equity operators getting their way.

When Philip Jansen took the helm at BT, a cynical remark circulated among investors about his motive for agreeing to the tricky task of fixing Britain’s wi-fi connection: he’s in it for the knighthood.
Jansen had made millions heading Worldpay, the former private equity-backed payments processor that floated in London in 2015. A sale and then a £32 billion mega-merger fattened up his fortune nicely, just as he joined BT in 2019.
Some believe the path to a gong may now be clearing — thanks to thinking that would not be out of place in the world of private equity, and a peace treaty with the telecoms regulator. On Thursday, BT confirmed it was in talks about selling a stake in BT Sport, the pay-TV arm launched by Jansen’s predecessor Gavin Patterson in 2013. The Daily Telegraph reported it had hired Lazard to sound out the likes of Amazon, Disney and Len Blavatnik’s streaming service DAZN, giving them access to BT’s Premier League and Champions League football matches. Even free-to-air broadcaster ITV was reported to be in the running to buy some or all of the division.
A deal for BT Sport, seen as a non-core distraction, could give the FTSE 100 company extra cash to spend on its £12 billion plan to connect 20 million homes to full-fibre broadband, while turning BT into a stronger player in high-tech fields such as cloud computing, cybersecurity and the “internet of things”: smart, connected devices.
Others in the industry have their eyes on a much bigger prize: a stake in Openreach. The key BT subsidiary, which controls Britain’s phone lines and broadband cables, is attracting interest from big infrastructure players after Jansen signalled last year he would be “open minded” about selling a stake.
A City source said that at least ten investors had run the numbers on Openreach, among them Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, a US-focused firm.
An investor who has worked with Jansen (who remains an adviser to private equity firm Bain Capital) said he was applying his private equity mindset to BT: “He’s able to take a complicated situation and focus on the key moves. He sees value in BT, which has been constrained by the way it’s structured.”
That value suffered in the latter period of Patterson’s reign, culminating in his exit. But the shares continued their decline under Jansen, not helped by the pandemic. He cut the dividend last year but since November, the stock has recovered, climbing 65 per cent to £1.65 on Friday amid renewed optimism about Jansen’s efforts to accelerate change — and a big boost from the regulator.
In March, Ofcom gave Jansen the result he had been pushing for since joining BT: freedom to charge what it wants for full-fibre broadband for at least the next decade in the knowledge that building the ultrafast network will be an expensive job. The government target is to connect 85 per cent of the UK to gigabit-capable fibre by 2025. Jansen promised to “build like fury” after the r

I think that Amazon will move big into Premier League football, maybe purchase the whole of BT Sport. I know that BT have stated that they want to still remain holders, but if the right offer is made, all options are on offer I believe. If BT can recoup the majority of their £9bln that BT Sport has cost them they will snap their hand off. JMO.

ITV hold £668mln in cash and have £545mln in debt down from £893mln in 2019.
I for one don't want ITV to waste this cash and more on football that they will give away for free on ITV1. All other live sport/football providers charge a subscription, ITV won't be doing this. I would prefer ITV to wipe out our debt and start paying dividends to shareholder who haven't received a penny for 12 months before risking it on football.

Yes there was 25.3% above the normal average volume of shares traded over the pond at 405,745 ITV ADR's, the average daily volume is only 16,029 according to investing.com. I noticed that there was one large buy trade around 17.30pm accounting for 361,000 shares.

https://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/news/2021/04/30/without-football-can-bt-s-share-price-reclaim-its-highs/

5eights...... "With Liberty tidying up some loose ends this week and the recent O2 -Virgin Media deal being cleared, looks even more likely now that Liberty will get the cheque book out in the next few weeks."

I've always thought that Liberty would be the favourite to make a move on ITV, what makes me think that it may be imminent is the recall of their shareholding that they loaned out to Goldman Sachs to bring down their average purchase price that now stands at less than 100p.

Aus...."I thought so. Liberty have a 10 or 11% share of ITV"

Hi Aus, yes Liberty own 9.9% of ITV. I also own shares in ITV. Rumoured for a few years now that they will make a move, watch this space.

Yes I saw the trade for 4,132,231 paying 121.0p @16:07pm. Someone has confidence that the share price is heading higher.

Fleccy...... "There are other jobs out there, like delivering for Amazon, DPD, and just eat, or maybe become an Uber driver, or stack shelves at Tesco. Hypothetically speaking, if it was me, I'd be very reluctant to strike with a big mortgage and lots of bills to pay. Just my opinion."

Agreed, better the devil you know, than the devil you don't know. Every time.

Simply wall St valuations change periodically so check again after result update for their latest BT valuation. I must say that I find Simply wall St very good overall. IMO BT are worth £3 all day long.

UBS RAISES ITV PRICE TARGET TO 135 (125) PENCE - 'BUY'

Leeds United have been the Premier League's entertainers this season, no doubt about that. Great to watch.

I asked the following question at the AGM. Have the board of directors, or would the board of directors consider splitting up ITV to create shareholder value?

Answer was that the board looks at all possibilities to create shareholder value, but think ITV is better placed to remain as one.

I'm hopeful that the dividend will be reinstated this financial year. If management were to announce a return of the dividend today at the AGM we would see a nice tick up in the share price maybe 10% over the next few days. Or will they wait for next week and announce it with Q1 results. If I was on the BOD I would be advising an announcement today, rather than next week. The BOD should be doing everything in their powers to get the share price up.

https://simplywall.st/stocks/gb/telecom/lse-bt.a/bt-group-shares

ITV moving up on WPP favourable results. Advertising recovery confirmed.

I understand your frustration Peachy, along with other ITV shareholders I'm sure. I cannot advise you on what to do only what I intend doing. I intend holding on for at least my breakeven price of 160p. I may average down if the share price was to drop to around 100p.

I think the same as other posters, once the dividend is re instated and possible re entry in to the FTSE100 we should see new investors purchasing ITV shares and a re rating to the undervalued share price should be on the cards. Not forgetting the Euro's in June and also next years World Cup in November 2021 should give a boost to advertising, if you can hold on for another 18 months I would hope that the share price should have recovered to at least 160p. Just my opinion of cause.