UK - Providence re-enters the fray for Virgin Media

Providence Equity has expressed its interest in Virgin Media ten months on from its last play for the business. Providence was reported to be interested in bidding for the US-listed company in 2006 when it was known as NTL before its merger with Virgin Mobile. The Carlyle Group is currently performing due diligence on the telecommunications group after a proposed offer of $32 per share, or an enterprise value of $23bn. Last week, Virgin Media appointed UBS to seek out strategic buyers amid concerns that private equity may struggle to raise enough debt to complete the deal.