US Cable Giant Liberty Global buys Virgin Media

[thenry]

is it not standard practice to send new owner in along with his or her selected people ? unless of course agreements are signed during takeover to keep the old going which i doubt very much. if theres heads that know one another then great. itll make for a smooth'ish switch.

[Horizon]

....of course, there will no doubt be management team reporting back to Malone. But the point I was trying to make to the other poster, is Liberty ain't a new owner. They are a very old one which have been invloved in uk cable for almost 30 years, not 20 as I said before.

[thenry]

they havent had a say in whats gone on during VMs reign though ?

Originally Posted by Horizon

....of course, there will no doubt be management team reporting back to Malone. But the point I was trying to make to the other poster, is Liberty ain't a new owner. They are a very old one which have been invloved in uk cable for almost 30 years, not 20 as I said before.

They understand the cable industry, but the UK is crazy competitive and a very unique market.

---------- Post added at 01:45 ---------- Previous post was at 01:42 ----------

Originally Posted by thenry

they havent had a say in whats gone on during VMs reign though ?

If they had any input over Virginmedia the TiVo deal would never of happened, I thought horizon had a clue... But with every post I'm thinking he hasn't.

[Horizon]

Originally Posted by thenry

they havent had a say in whats gone on during VMs reign though ?

As far as I know, no. Because the old Telwest company, as was, went bust and was bought up by the banks and other bondholders.

Oh, VM has just announced on their website, that subject to shareholder approval, that Liberty Global will buy Virgin Media.

Liberty Global will become a subsidary of a new UK company and the Virgin Media name will remain.

[knack]

Originally Posted by Bogof

Lol you guys need a reality check NOTHING is going to change anytime soon. If you think it will be a change as fast as the virgin media thing you're all very wrong.

The Virginmedia thing was NTL/Telewest rebranding after a successful merger of 2 UK cable companies. What's happening now is very very different. You won't see any change for a longtime. Virginmedia have commitments to Virgin group and TiVo that they can't just drop.

Maybe you want to retract this comment in that case?

Originally Posted by Bogof

I think the TiVo will go,the new owners will probably by 1 or 2 STB's (Or replace them with kit they already use around Europe ) and roll them out to all areas. The more they buy the bigger the discounts and the easier it is for repairs and faults etc.

Originally Posted by knack

Maybe you want to retract this comment in that case?

Nope, ultimately TiVo will go but nothing will happen for a while yet.

[Russ]

Neil Berkett, chief executive of Virgin Media said "the combined company will be able to grow faster and deliver enhanced returns by capitalizing on the exciting opportunities that the digital revolution presents, both in the UK and across Europe"

Good to see he's getting ready for plenty of pointless Americanisms.

Originally Posted by Bogof

They now own it, and the merger of NTL/telewest was bassically if they're honest NTL taking over telewest and NTL guys run the thing. We both obviously have an amount if inside knowledge but I think I know more than you.

You actually have no inside knowledge at all, you left a long time ago and your post clearly show you have no idea of how things are today.

If you did you would know that all of the directors were put through an assessment centre and only 20 percent of Ntl people secured a role, the rest were telewest people. Since then they have embarked on bringing in people who fit the virgin way and now 80 percent of the senior people are from the virgin recruitment approach

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Bogof

Nope, ultimately TiVo will go but nothing will happen for a while yet.

How did you come up with that rubbish.

Originally Posted by Russ

Good to see he's getting ready for plenty of pointless Americanisms.

Might be a kiwi ism though

[LondonRoad]

So do any of you know what sort of track record Liberty have for treatment of staff? Are there likely to be redundancies or an increase in outsourcing to overseas call centres?

I'm just a customer but these things are important. I've known a few people who have worked for VM in Bellshill and Uddingston and they've always struck me as being one of the better call centre employers.

[denphone]

From the press release.

http://news.sky.com/story/1048244/vi...liberty-global

Following news of the deal, Liberty Global's chief executive Mike Fries said it would keep Virgin Media's current strategy and content, and would continue to invest in its broadband network.

He added: "Virgin Media will add significant scale and a first-class management team in Europe's largest and most dynamic media and communications market.

Virgin Media, whose chief executive Neil Berkett said he would step down if the merger goes through, will continue to operate under this brand in the UK,

Almost five million households in the UK subscribe to Virgin's broadband, television and landline services, and it has around three million mobile phone customers in Britain.

[pk1]

God they sold it quicker than they add channels

[denphone]

Originally Posted by pk1

God they sold it quicker than they add channels

They certainly kept it quiet as several days ago nobody knew anything.