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Granada arm raises $2B
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July 11, 2000: 3:27 a.m. ET
Media division offered to investors at top of price range, valued at $11.3B
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Shares in Granada Media went on sale to institutional investors Tuesday, with a price at the top of the expected range raising £1.3 billion ($2 billion) and valuing the firm at £7.5 billion.
U.K. lodging and media company Granada Group PLC (GAA) is offering about 20 percent of Granada Media (GME) division, or 261 million shares, at 515 pence per share. The firm indicated previously that it would set the price somewhere between 465 pence and 525 pence.
The listing of the unit follows May's merger agreement between Granada Group, Britain's largest hotel operator, and Compass Group PLC (CPG), the world's second-largest catering company.
Granada Media stock jumped immediately to 550 pence when conditional dealing in the shares commenced in London early Tuesday.
Granada Media is one of the three leading broadcasters in Britain's independent television network, and one of the country's largest program makers.
The £1.3 billion windfall for Granada Media will enable the firm to make acquisitions. It has already indicated an interest in breaking up the proposed merger between Carlton Communications PLC (CCM) and United News & Media PLC (UNWS), its two principal rivals in the U.K. independent television network. Regulators are still examining those companies' merger proposal.
Granada Media operates four of the 15 regional franchises in the network, and makes programs such as "Blind Date" and "Coronation Street", a top-rated soap opera that has run for almost 40 years. The new company is likely to be included in London's FTSE 100 index of blue-chip firms. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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Granada
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