Virgin Media sold to Liberty Global for $23.3 billion
Liberty Global have confirmed rumours that they have acquired Virgin Media as part of a $23.3 billion cash and stock purchase.
Liberty Global is a worldwide television and telecoms giant, based in the US. The company have been keen for sometime to bring its cable broadcast network properties to the UK, and the purchase of Virgin Media is expected to help in this endeavour.
Combined, the Liberty Global and Virgin Media customer base will hit 25 million across 14 countries, with both parties expected to save $180 million per year through shared network equipment and IT contracts.
Virgin Media will retain its name and branding for the time being, with no immediate changes to the service of its 4.9 million subscribers currently planned.
“Adding Virgin Media to our large and growing European operations is a natural extension of the value creation strategy we’ve been successfully using for over seven years,” said Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries.
“Virgin Media will add significant scale and a first-class management team in Europe’s largest and most dynamic media and communications market. After the deal, roughly 80% of Liberty Global’s revenue will come from just five attractive and strong countries – the UK, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands.”
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