Virgin Media prepares to offload its content division

[Digital Fanatic]

Originally Posted by m419

The thing is, Virgin Media's wholly owned channels such as Living have more decent programmes on then Sky Real Lives,Sky 2 and Sky 3, Sky show far too many repeats.

So now we have BBCi player,4OD,ITV Net player,Bravo OD,Living OD,Virgin1 OD and soon.......Five on demand and Warner TV.

Wonder if we'll ever see Sky player! just a thought!

We already have Warner TV on TV Choice, or am I missing something here?

[Physci]

Financial newswire (Mergermarket) saying that the sale process has started:

Virgin Media, the US-listed and UK-based media company, has launched the disposal of its TV content arm by sending out sale documents to potential acquirers, according to a source close to the situation.

The source said an information memorandum had been sent out for the Virgin Media business, which has a number of wholly-owned channels in the UK and Ireland and digital terrestrial television, satellite television and cable television platforms. UBS is advising Virgin. The source said the IM did not include documents on UKTV, a 50:50 joint venture with BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the public broadcaster, which is also part of Virgin's content arm. He said there were no immediate plans to send out an IM on UKTV. “There is no visibility on this [UKTV],� he added. A Virgin spokesperson said they could not comment on the issue.

A second source involved in the process said the confirmation earlier this month of the departure of Malcolm Wall, the chief executive of Virgin Media’s content business, removed an obstacle to the sale process. “Malcolm Wall was the key block to the deal, and with him out, a deal is a lot more likely. It has the support of the board of Virgin in NY and [Richard] Branson,� said the second source.

The second source said a sale of UKTV is more complicated because BBC Worldwide has the right to veto the buyer. The entire business, including UKTV, is worth between GBP 420m (USD 605m) and GBP 500m, according to recent reports. The second source added: “Many players have been looking but we’re yet to see the colour of their money.� He said bidders that have been sent the IM include NBC and Liberty Media. RTL, Disney and BSkyB are also believed to have been sent the documents, said the second source, but he thought they were less likely to be interested in the assets.

A sector banker said that taking UKTV, out of the equation, the assets weren't worth more than GBP 150m. "Nobody will pay much more than that," he said. This banker added that it could be a good add-on for Sky. and that RTL was probably not going to buy it because it did not have a presence in Pay TV channels in the UK.

The second source said he thought first round bids for Virgin TV, which included the brands Virgin 1, Living and Bravo channels was expected in April, with the deal expected to be closed by the end of June. The Virgin spokesperson said that the sale process was not linked to an agreement by Virgin’s lenders to delay its GBP 4.3bn debt repayments to 2012. “There were no terms relating to assets disposals,� said the spokesperson. “It was to give management time to run the business.�

By Lawrie Holmes, Mariana Valle & Beranger Guille

Do you have a link for that? It looks like it's behind a subscription but you never know...

[Physci]

Sorry but it is a subscription service. Have checked and not available without logging in

[Physci]

bid tv, price-drop tv and speed auction tv sold:

http://pressoffice.virginmedia.com/p...2090&highlight=

AURELIUS Acquires British Home Shopping Specialist sit-up Ltd. from Virgin Media


Purchase of all shares from Virgin Media Second acquisition of a home shopping television network

• Purchase of all shares from Virgin Media
• Second acquisition of a home shopping television network

MUNICH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 1, 2009-- Munich-based industrial holding AURELIUS has acquired sit-up Ltd., the UK’s most innovative home shopping retailer, from Virgin Media (NASDAQ: VMED). The signing of the acquisition agreement and transaction were completed today.
With its three digital home shopping channels bid tv, price-drop tv and speed auction tv, the company’s live programs are available to viewers in more than 20 million homes throughout the UK. Launched in 2000, sit-up Ltd. generated revenues of GBP 242 million in 2008.
Dirk Markus, CEO of AURELIUS, comments on the rationale behind the transaction: “Since our acquisition of RTL Shop in Germany, we have become very familiar with the home shopping business model. We are excited about extending our presence in this market, especially since this is one of the few areas of growth in retailing.�
The purchase price or terms of the agreement have not been disclosed. The divestment will not have a material impact on Virgin Media’s OCF (specified below).
Notes on OCF
OCF is operating income before depreciation, amortization, goodwill and intangible asset impairments and restructuring and other charges. OCF is a non-GAAP financial measure. Please see Virgin Media's fourth quarter 2008 earnings release for a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to their nearest GAAP equivalents.
About AURELIUS AG
Munich-based AURELIUS AG acquires medium-sized companies and subsidiaries that no longer belong to the core business of their previous owners. AURELIUS also takes over companies with complex initial structures and actively continues to develop them. With the aid of a specialized task force, the company raises the value-added potential of its subsidiaries for the benefit of all involved while at the same time observing the associated social responsibility. The shares of AURELIUS AG are traded on the open market of the Frankfurt stock exchange (ISIN: DE000A0JK2A8).


Source: Virgin Media
AURELIUS
Ingo Middelmenne
Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Phone +49 (89) 544799 56
Fax +49 (89) 544799 55
ingo.middelmenne@aureliusinvest.de
or
Tavistock Communications for Virgin Media
Matt Ridsdale
Phone +44 (0) 20 7920 3150
mridsdale@tavistock.co.uk
or
Lulu Bridges
Phone +44 (0) 20 7920 3150
lbridges@tavistock.co.uk

[Media Boy UK]

Update: Three buyers in running for Virgin Media’s TV channels

Virgin Media is understood to have drawn up a shortlist of three potential buyers for its VMtv channels.

They are: Channel 4, Time Warner and BSkyB.

Info from The Times.

---------- Post added at 13:24 ---------- Previous post was at 13:18 ----------

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcas...-channels.html

[Arthurgray50@blu]

According to DS, Sky are through to another round to buy VM Tv and its TV channels for 600 million quid, l knew there was something in the air, as we are not getting HD channels.

[Toto]

Rather misleading thread topic don't you think?

[Arthurgray50@blu]

Try reading DS, it is on there, and there is another bidder as well.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

Try reading DS, it is on there, and there is another bidder as well.

For gods sake

If your going to wind people up at least try and get it believable

Its for the tv channels NOT the network.

Read up and then post.

I think the mods need to correct the thread name so its correct

[Russ]

Thread title amended.

[Toto]

Thanks for the update Russ.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Russ B

Thread title amended.

Thanks

[AndyCambs]

I doubt Sky have much ready cash with the loss on the shareholding in ITV...

[mentalis]

I don't think C4 have a lot of readies either. Not sure about Time Warner though.