ITV has sold its 50% stake in BritBox International, the streaming service that offers programmes such as Line of Duty outside the UK, to BBC Studios for £255m in cash.
The UK broadcaster said the sale to its joint-venture partner would underpin its strategy of expanding its ITVX advertiser-funded streaming service and its global studios division.
ITV said it planned to return the net sale proceeds, which total about £235m, to investors through a share buyback that it expects to launch shortly after it publishes full-year results next week. ITV shares rose almost 15% after the deal was announced on Friday morning.
BritBox International offers scripted and live content and UK dramas such as Death in Paradise, Father Brown, Archie, Shetland and Sherwood to eight countries – the US, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The transaction will allow ITV Studios to receive an ongoing revenue stream from BritBox International similar to current levels for the use of TV content under new licensing agreements.
BritBox International was jointly launched in 2017 by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC, and ITV, and has 3.75 million subscribers, up 300% over the past four years.
Friday’s transaction does not affect BritBox UK, which continues to be fully owned by ITV and will still feature BBC content, ITV said.
The ITV chief executive, Carolyn McCall, said on Friday the sale “means ITV is focused on its core strategic goals of continuing to build on ITVX’s success and growing ITV Studios”. In the past year ITV has been buffeted by the downturn in advertising as the UK economy slowed. McCall said last July that ITV was in the midst of the worst advertising downturn since the 2008 financial crisis.
The deal is significant for BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC, which said in October 2022 that it aimed to double the size of its business between 2021-22 and 2027-28. BBC Studios had sales of £2.1bn in 2022-23.
The BBC Studios chief executive, Tom Fussell, called the deal “an important acquisition” and said that taking full ownership would help its aims of doubling the size of its operations.
After the move of BritBox International into BBC Studios, its global chief executive, Reemah Sakaan, will step down after three years in post, it was also announced on Friday.