Virgin Gets $11 Billion Offer

Virgin Media Inc. received a buyout offer worth as much as $11.35 billion, people familiar with the deal said Monday, sending shares in the British telecommunications company to a new one-year high.

But, underscoring the delicate nature of the proposal, Virgin Media would not name its suitor and said the deal would be scrapped if it even disclosed the potential terms.

The offer of between $30 to $35 per share was made by the Carlyle Group, a Washington-based private-equity firm, according to people who spoke only on the condition that they not be identified because they were not authorized to do so publicly on the matter. Virgin also has roughly 6 billion pounds ($12.1 billion) of debt.

Virgin Media would say only that the offer came after it began a review with Goldman Sachs to explore “strategic alternatives,” including a possible sale. Despite being formally based in New York and listed on the Nasdaq, the company’s operations are in the U.K.

Virgin Media added that “there is no assurance that any transaction will occur or, if so, at what price.” The company said it does not plan to comment further until a deal is reached or the offer is dropped.

The aggregation of cable operators NTL Inc. and Telewest and the mobile operator Virgin Mobile, the company reported its seventh consecutive quarterly loss in May after subscribers defected to rival satellite service BSkyB.

Thomas Eagan, a media analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., said going private could make Virgin Media more competitive. The company wouldn’t have to publicly disclose its operating and financial figures, he said, and would be less constrained in terms of marketing, customer service and programming costs.

Other cable operators, such as Insight Communications Inc. and Cox Communications Inc. in the U.S., have gone private in recent years.

“Private equity has shown that it likes cable stocks,” Mr. Eagan said. “Here’s one that’s trading at a pretty low multiple versus U.S. cable stocks with a high cash flow yield compared to U.S. cable stocks.”

Virgin Media was formed to create Britain’s first “quadruple play” service, offering mobile phone, fixed-line phone, Internet broadband and TV services.

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