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22 December 2021

Macfarlanes advises the BBC and Digital UK in relation to the merger of Digital UK and Freesat and admission of Channel 5

Macfarlanes has advised the BBC and Digital UK in relation to the merger of the Digital UK and Freesat operations and the admission of Channel 5 as a member.

Digital UK acquired Freesat from its two shareholders, the BBC and ITV, in the summer of 2021 following the transaction being cleared by the relevant authorities and regulators.

This combination of Freesat with Digital UK means that Digital UK is now responsible for the day-to-day management of both the UK’s leading free-to-view platforms, Freeview and Freesat.

The addition of Channel 5 as a member means that Digital UK is now for the first time wholly-owned by the UK’s largest public service broadcasters – the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.

The transaction was led by competition partner Cameron Firth and corporate M&A partner Richard Burrows, with assistance from competition senior counsel Fiona Beattie, competition solicitors Gina Sternberg and Matthew Jones, corporate M&A solicitor Annie McElwain and employment senior solicitor Tabitha Al-Mahdawie.

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