It’s a pig of a day for Entertainment One as ITV ditches takeover bid

SHARES in Peppa Pig maker Entertainment One tumbled more than 14pc after ITV ditched its £1bn takeover bid for the company.

The board of eOne rejected ITV’s 236p a share offer two weeks ago – fuelling speculation ITV or another suitor would come back with an improved bid.

But the broadcaster yesterday abandoned plans to buy the company due to differing opinions over its value. EOne shares fell 14.23pc, or 35.7p to 215.1p.

The stock rose as high as 255p earlier this month on hopes that ITV would raise its offer, and it was also thought American private equity firm KKR was mulling a bid.

But after walking away, the British broadcaster said: ‘ITV continues to believe in the strategic logic and potential benefits of acquiring eOne, but has a clear view of the value of the business. It appears this value is different to the level at which the board of eOne would currently engage in a more formal process.’

EOne owns the rights to shows including children’s cartoon character Peppa Pig along with 40,000 other film and television titles.

It was the production firm behind Oscar-winning film Spotlight and its Amblin Partners venture with Steven Spielberg is behind this summer’s movie The BFG, based on Roald Dahl’s book.

Shareholders were thought to be holding out for more than 280p a share – valuing it at £1.2bn.

ITV has been on the acquisition trail to expand its production business in a bid to cut reliance on UK advertising.