LONDON-United Kingdom cable operator NTL has reportedly upped its offer for Virgin Mobile Holdings (UK) plc, and Virgin Group plc’s governing board has confirmed that it is in “preliminary discussions” with NTL, which “may or may not lead to a formal offer being made for the entire issued share capital of Virgin Mobile.”
Virgin turned down an offer of $5.70 per share from NTL in early December, saying that the offer “materially undervalue[d]” Virgin Mobile. According to published reports, the new offer includes $6.37 per share from NTL, plus another 20 cents per share from Virgin Mobile’s majority stockholder, Sir Richard Branson, for a total of $6.57 per share. Branson has publicly indicated his support for the sale to NTL in the past but, according to a statement by the Virgin Group board, has not been involved with the NTL negotiations.
NTL already licenses the Virgin brand for its broadband offerings, and as of December said it was in talks to extend the license to cover television, wireline and wireless phone services so that if an NTL offer succeeds, the company can become a quadruple player using the Virgin brand.
