ITV shares leap after Liberty Global buys 6.4 percent stake
LONDON (Reuters) - Shares in ITV leapt 8 percent on Thursday after its biggest shareholder BSkyB sold a 6.4 percent stake in the free-to-air broadcaster to cable group Liberty Global, sparking hopes of a full takeover.
Liberty, which bought Virgin Media in Britain as part of a European expansion, said it did not intend to make an offer for the rest of ITV, but shares in the country's biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster still rose on investor hopes it could become a target.
Pay-TV group BSkyB, which bought a 17.9 percent stake in 2006 to block a rival from acquiring the group, said it sold the stake for 481 million pounds.
(Reporting by Kate Holton, Editing by Paul Sandle)
