in 2000, which would have made him the dominant player on the network. But his plans were blocked by the then Secretary of State at the DTI, Stephen Byers, who ruled that the merger would only be acceptable if Hollick gave up the prized Meridian franchise – making the deal pointless. Unable to proceed, Hollick sold the three ITV franchises to Granada in July 2000 for £1.75 billion. The UNM share price dived 13% on the news, but history has since revealed that Hollick sold out right at the top of the market. Ironically, the last restrictions on ITV company joint ownership were lifted by the Communications Act 2003, and in February 2004 Granada and Carlton merged to form a single entity ITV plc controlling all of the ITV franchises in England and Wales. Other parts of UNM were also disposed of advantageously, including the demerging of MAI's original securities business in 1998 as Garban, which subsequently became ICAP; the sale in 1998 of United's Provincial Newspapers including the Yorkshire Post to Johnston Press; the controversial sale of Express Newspapers in 2000 to Richard Desmond, then the owner of a number of pornographic magazines; the sale of the NOP World market research business to GfK in 2005; and the sale of United's 35% stake in Channel 5 to RTL in 2005. UNM, renamed United Business Media PLC in 2000, is now strongly focussed on business-to-business publications, information services and exhibitions. Principal subsidiaries are PR Newswire, acquired by United in 1982, and CMP Media, acquired in 1999. Current activities and other interests Hollick retired as CEO of United Business Media in April 2005 at the age of 60, and promptly became a managing partner at private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, focussing on the media and financial services sectors. This led to speculation that KKR might launch a bid for ITV. In 2006 he was appointed to the supervisory board of media conglomerate VNU, after KKR and Blackstone Group won a difficult takeover battle. He is also vice-chairman of the supervisory board of SBS Broadcasting Group, taken over by KKR and Permira in August 2005, into which in 2007 was merged the German satellite broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 Media. Hollick is also a director of Diageo PLC (since 2001), and Honeywell International (since 2003). Other directorships Hollick has held include Hambros Bank Limited, 1973–96; Shepperton Studios (chairman), 1976–79; National Bus Company Ltd, 1984–91;