US cable operator Liberty Global planning to bid for Virgin Media: report
05 Feb 2013
US cable operator Liberty Global is planning to bid for UK cable company Virgin Media Inc, which has an enterprise value of more than $20 billion, the Financial Times yesterday reported, citing several people familiar with the matter.
The paper said that Virgin Media has a market capitalisation of around £6.6 billion ($10.4 billion) as of yesterday closing price and net debt of £5.7 billion at the end of the last quarter.
Formed in 2006 by the merger of NTL and Telewest, Virgin Media is the UK's second-largest pay television operator, and also provides fixed and mobile telephone, and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the country.
The company is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market and has a secondary listing in the London Stock Exchange.
Virgin Media competes with BSkyB, BT Group, EE, O2, TalkTalk and Vodafone, and had posted operating income of £75 million in 2011 on revenues of £3.99 billion.
Colorado-based Liberty Global, run by US billionaire John Malone, was formed through the 2005 merger of Liberty Media and UnitedGlobalCom.