Liberty in Talks to Buy Virgin Media

by Christopher Freeburn | February 5, 2013 10:22 am

[1]Britain’s Virgin Media (NASDAQ:VMED[2]) is in advanced negotiations over a possible purchase[3] by Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA[4]). Unnamed, insider sources told Reuters that a potential deal worth as much as $24 billion could be announced by Tuesday.

Predictably, the news send Virgin Media shares soaring, up more than 16% in Tuesday morning trading, while Liberty Global shares sank about 4%.

The acquisition of Virgin Media, which runs the second largest subscription TV service in the United Kingdom, would give Liberty, controlled by billionaire John Malone, a beachhead in a leading European market.

A deal would put Liberty into competition with BSkyB, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWSA[5]). BSkyB’s pay TV service has the largest number of subscribers in Britain — 10.7 million subscribers, compared to just 4.9 million for Virgin Media.

Last month, Malone’s Liberty Media (NASDAQ:LMCA[6]) acquired another 50 million shares[7] of Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI[8]), giving it control of the satellite radio company.

Endnotes:

[Image]: http://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/virginmedialogo.jpg
VMED: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=VMED
in advanced negotiations over a possible purchase: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/05/us-liberty-virginmedia-idUSBRE91409220130205
LBTYA: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=LBTYA
NWSA: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=NWSA
LMCA: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=LMCA
acquired another 50 million shares: http://investorplace.com/2013/01/liberty-takes-majority-control-of-sirius/
SIRI: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=SIRI

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