Discovery mulls Scripps bid
December 11, 2013
By Colin Mann
Reports have emerged in the US that Discovery Communications is considering a bid for non-fiction television specialist Scripps Networks Interactive.
The Scripps family trust that controlled the company ended in 2012, increasing the possibility of a takeover. Scripps Networks Interactive was spun off from publisher E.W. Scripps in 2008.
Discovery has aggressively expanded overseas lately, acquiring ProSiebenSat.1 Media’s Nordic assets for $1.7 billion earlier in 2012 and taking a a 20 per cent stake in sports network Eurosport for $221.6 million in a December 2012 deal with French broadcaster TF1 encompassing the building of a three-tier strategic alliance across Eurosport, four pay-TV channels and production.
Scripps acquired a 50 per cent stake in the UKTV bouquet of channels from UK cable MSO Virgin Media in August 2011. News mid-October 2012 of the loosening of the family trust’s interest in the company gave rise to takeover speculation at the time.