http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle2007919.ece
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From The Times
June 30, 2007
Buyout firms set their eye on Virgin Media
Elizabeth Judge, Telecoms Correspondent
Virgin Media has been informally approached by a potential buyer for the $8 billion (£3.9 billion) group.
The television and telecoms group, which was recently publicly castigated by its leading investors, is being eyed up by buyout firms understood to include Carlyle.
The interest has prompted Virgin to instruct banks to work alongside its traditional adviser, Goldman Sachs.
However, discussions about a potential sale are said to be at a very early stage and people familiar with the process cautioned that it was not certain any deal could be pulled off.
A private equity consortium including Providence Equity Partners, Blackstone, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Cinven made a £10 billion approach to the cable group last summer.
That approach, thought to have been pitched at about $30 dollars a share, failed in part because of reluctance by Bill Huff, then a key shareholder, to hand over the company for less than $32 a share.
Since then, the cable group, which was formed last year by joining the former NTL:Telewest with Virgin Mobile, has continued to struggle to transform its fortunes. Yesterday its Nasdaq-listed shares were trading at just $24."...