BBC DENY DECISION ON UKTV FLOATATION

BBC WORLDWIDE have denied claims that a decision has been made on the floatation of UKTV their joint venture with Telewest.
BBC Worldwide are not expected to decide on the floatation until the first quarter of next year as reported on Mediaguardian.co.uk. The floatation is expected to raise up to £200 million for the BBC.
A UKTV float would represent the first public offering of a BBC asset. Director-General of the BBC Greg Dyke has stated that BBC Worldwide will need to find £1.1 billion in revenue by 2006. Last month the corporation announced the sale of a stake in Internet site beeb.com to a US firm for £32.5 million.
It has been reported that Peter Teague Deputy Chief Executive said UKTV had around £200 million of debt to pay off, which would need to be factored in to the value. By quarter one next year BBC Worldwide would be in a better position to assess the value of a floatation.
Adam Singer Chief Executive of Telewest raised the possibility of a floatation at the Edinburgh TV Festival last month. Singer estimated that an initial public offering at 40 per cent of UKTV, estimated to be worth between £700 million and £1.48 billion, could generate £200 million for each of the parties.
Shireen Arthur Press Officer at BBC Worldwide said: “As our Chief Executive is not available at the moment we are unable to release any comments on this matter.”