Carlyle Bids on Faltering Virgin Media

Debt-riddled UK cable provider, 35 ($ a share), seeks rich buyout firm
By Dustin Lushing,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 2, 2007 1:37 PM CDT
Carlyle Bids on Faltering Virgin Media
Virgin Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson is accompanied by air stewards and cheerleaders as he arrives in Chicago following his airline's inaugural flight on the relaunched Heathrow to Chicago route on Monday April 23, 2007. Passengers could travel in aircraft run on "green" jet fuel within two years...   (Associated Press)

The friendly corporate raiders at the Carlyle Group have floated an offer to buy out Virgin Media, the British cable provider, with total equity in the range of $8B and $10B, the Journal reports. The besieged media company has been losing customers to rivals in the UK, and has stacked up debt nearing $12B.

Virgin Media, the brain child of eccentric billionaire Richard Branson, sells cable television, high-speed Internet, and mobile phone services to 13.5M customers, but is falling behind in the UK's cutthroat media industry. The company has hired its adviser Goldman Sachs to "effectively start to run an auction" in order to entice a selection of bidders.  (More Carlyle Group stories.)

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