Once the deal is done, the company will be debt free, and analysts reckon it could return as much as £60 million of the purchase price direct to shareholders.
That would leave a nifty radio business broadcasting not just north and south of the Irish border but across in the whole UK as well.
Subtract the £100 million ITV is paying from UTV’s current market value and this suggests the radio interests are valued at not much more than £75 million.
For a business which could quite easily make earnings of £15 million a year once the untangling is finished, that does not seem particularly expensive. Indeed, it looks cheap enough to attract an outright buyer.
