Malone mulls Virgin Media bid

Filed in archive Announcements on August 4, 2007

One of the smartest people in the television business that I have ever met is John Malone. Smart in a strategic sense - that is, knowing when to buy or sell an asset because the business was about to change and valuations were either at a low or high point.

So it was with fascination that I read that Malone is joining a list of private equity groups kicking the tires at Virgin Media, the British cable group formed from the merger of NTL and Telewest, which is the only real competitor to News Corp.-backed satcaster BSkyB.

In an interview with the London Financial Times, he described the U.K. market as "big and complex," adding that Virgin Media "has a lot of interesting financial attributes" - a reference to an estimated $24 billion of debt accumulated by Virgin that could be used to offset tax on future profits.

A note of caution: the rumor mill always thinks that John Malone is going to buy everything. But if he did buy Virgin, that would put him squarely in competition in the U.K. with Rupert Murdock's BSkyB satellite service. Malone is not underestimating the battle with BSkyB, as Virgin Media continues to struggle against the behemoth.

"The bottom-line issue is, can anything flourish under the Death Star?" said Malone, comparing BSkyB with the "Star Wars" super weapon. There's a high level of radiation that's coming down (from BSkyB). The concentration of market power that's been created means you have to scratch your head and say. 'Can anything compete?' "