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JP Morgan takes charge of Channel 4’s road to privatisation

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Alex Mahon, who has been at the helm of the business since 2017, has rejected speculation that she is stepping down from Channel 4.

The government has appointed banking giant JP Morgan to provide advice on Channel 4’s future following a consultation into the possible privatisation of the public broadcaster.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden is understood to have approved the American investment bank to provide corporate finance advice on the broadcaster’s remit, ownership and obligations.

The appointment has not been officially confirmed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), but an announcement is expected on Wednesday.

With the public consultation into the next steps for Channel 4 only coming to an end late on Tuesday, Labour’s shadow culture secretary Jo Stevens raised concerns that the process had been a “sham”.

The broadcaster was founded in 1982 and currently is owned by the Government and receives its funding from advertising.

But ministers launched a consultation into a potential change in ownership of the channel in July.