Citigroup and UBS won a €256m ($315m) block trade from ITV, the UK television company, and placed its stake in Thomson, the French electronics firm, in less than an hour and at a discount of less than half a percent.

ITV said it had agreed to sell 15.5 million Thomson shares, its entire 5.5% stake, to Citigroup and UBS "following a competitive process" on Tuesday evening.