ITV no longer pursuing Entertainment One

LONDON• ITV PLC says it’s no longer interested in making a takeover offer for the Entertainment One Ltd. film studio and distribution business — which has roots in Canada.

London- based I TV — which has Britain’s largest private- sector television network and other entertainment businesses — says it still believes in the logic of combining with eOne, but the two sides are too far apart on price.

EOne shares — which had jumped two weeks ago after ITV’s initial proposal became public — fell back in London Thursday trading to close down 16.55 per cent at 209.28 pence, still about their Aug. 8 close of 197.90 when reports of an impend- ing takeover offer began to circulate.

Entertainment One confirmed on Aug. 10 that it had received and rejected a proposal from ITV, but eOne’s share price continued to rise on speculation of a higher bid and closed Wednesday at 250.80 pence.

The company had valued ITV’s proposal at 236 pence — about $ 4 per share or $1.87 billion on Aug. 10 — but said it wasn’t enough.

ITV issued a statement Thursday saying it’s view of eOne’s value “is different to the level at which the board of eOne would currently engage in a more formal process.”

Among other things, Entertainment One was behind the Academy Award winning movie Spotlight, the AMC television drama The Walking Dead and children’s favourite Peppa Pig. In total it has about 40,000 film and television titles.

Entertainment One has grown through a series of acquisitions into one of the world’s biggest film and television companies. Its roots go back to Toronto and the music distributor Records on Wheels.

It continued to grow in Canada before making its transatlantic leap. It became known as Entertainment One in 2005 and has been listed on the main London Stock Exchange since 2010.