Desmond sets 27 February Channel 5 bid deadline
Channel 5 owner Richard Desmond has set a deadline of 27 February for interested parties to mount a bid for the terrestrial television station.
BSkyB, BT and ITV are all thought to be considering a bid as they weigh up options for bolstering their reach, with all eyes on BT and BSkyB in particular to see how the pair will fare in the latest round of their pay TV battle.
They are likely to face stiff competition from US firms Time Warner, Viacom, Discovery and Scripps, all of whom are keen to weigh in.
Desmond has set a target price tag of £700m for the station although concerns around programme deals and advertising sales may make this difficult to achieve.
The media mogul paid just £103.5m for the channel back in 2010 but since then it has posted double-digit annual growth in ad sales with Northern & Shell spending £30m pushing the channel whilst cross-promoting it on other assets; including the Daily Express, Daily Star and OK!