Entertainment One rises on hopes of takeover battle between ITV and KKR

Shares in television and films firm Entertainment One have jumped 7% on hopes that private-equity giant KKR could emerge as a white knight in the face of a hostile £1 billion bid from ITV.

KKR has reportedly approached eOne’s largest investor, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, to see if a deal can be agreed.

The Pension Plan holds a 20% stake, for which it paid around an average of 260p a share. ITV has made a cash offer of 236p a share.

David Cummings, director of Standard Life Investments, told the BBC that anything less than 300p a share was unlikely to prove successful.

EOne, the maker of Peppa Pig and the distributor of BFG, rejected ITV’s bid last week but indicated it could be open to more generous offers.

Today the shares increased 16p to 254.8p.

ITV has been steadily buying up television production companies over the past couple of years to diversify from its dependency on the UK advertising market.