Channel 4 in £1bn sale plan
MINISTERS are considering a £1 billion sell-off of Channel Four a year after the plans were blocked by the Liberal Democrats in the Coalition.
The news emerged after secret government documents detailing the plans were photographed in the hands of an official in Downing Street yesterday.
The memo disclosed that two Cabinet ministers recently attended a meeting with Matt Hancock, the Paymaster General and a key ally of George Osborne, about the sale.
The document – marked “Sensitive: Commercial” – said ministers had “agreed that work should proceed” to examine opportunities to privatise the state-owned public service broadcaster. The memo, addressed to the two Cabinet ministers, said: “In your recent meeting with Matt Hancock you agreed that work should proceed [to] examine the options for extracting greater public value from the Channel 4 Corporation (C4C), focusing on privatisation options in particular, whilst protecting its ability to deliver against its remit.”
The note then uses acronyms thought to refer to Shareholder Executive (ShEx), which controls government stakes in private sector companies, and the Cabinet Office (CO).
It continued: “This submission outlines the options we propose to explore, working with ShEx and the CO. It also sets out next steps in pursuing that
work, including a recommendation that you write to C4C requesting that they open their books to ShEx.”
It is likely the two ministers who received the document were Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, who controls the Shareholder Executive, and John Whittingdale, the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary.
As recently as July, the Government said there were “no plans” to privatise the channel. However, the Culture department admitted yesterday that it was examining “a range of options” about the “reform of Channel Four”.
A spokesman said: “The Government has made no decisions regarding reform of Channel Four. Channel Four has an important remit and we are looking at a range of options as to how to continue to deliver this, including options put forward by Channel Four.”
A spokesman for Channel Four said it has a “unique remit” focused on “innovation, diversity and new talent”.
Based on the £450 million sale price of Channel Five last year, investment bankers said Channel Four was likely to be worth more than £1 billion. It has almost double Channel Five’s audience and attracts higher advertising rates.