UPC Ireland, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Global, has entered into an agreement with Doughty Hanson to buy TV3 for €80 million with an extra €7m payable based on TV3 hitting certain targets. Doughty Hanson paid €265m for TV3 in 2006. Chief executive David McRedmond and commercial director Pat Kiely are among those with a 9.5 per cent stake.
It is expected that McRedmond will leave the company in a few months’ time.
On completion of the deal, TV3 will become part of Liberty Global. TV3 operates two free-to-air channels, the flagship TV3 channel and the youth-oriented 3e. It also has TV3+1 on UPC and Sky and 3player. TV3 claims to have an audience share of 12 per cent. In 2014, the group achieved its best set of operating results since 2008.
This year, TV3 launched a new schedule, following the loss of Coronation Street and Emmerdale to new station UTV Ireland. In January, it launched new soap Red Rock (above), which has been viewed by 2.3m people. TV3 also produces Ireland AM and Xposé. A greater focus on home productions followed the opening of the TV3 HD studio in 2013.
UPC Ireland became part of Liberty Global’s UK subsidiary, Virgin Media, in December 2014. Deloitte acted as corporate finance advisor to Liberty Global. There has been some speculation that UPC may soon rebrand to incorporate Virgin in its name.
