EU Clears GBP15bn Liberty Global Takeover of UK Cable ISP Virgin Media

As widely expected the European Commission (EC) has today granted approval for international cable operator Liberty Global (LGi) to continue with its £15bn acquisition ($23.3 billion – enterprise value) of UK cable provider Virgin Media.

According to Reuters, the commission didn’t find any major competition concerns with the deal and appears to have been happy to let it through. The current CEO of Virgin Media, Neil Berkett, will no doubt be pleased as he also stands to leave the business with the equivalent of £58 million ($86.8m) in his pockets (here). Richard Branson will also see his shares and cash from the ISP grow to around £200m.

Meanwhile existing customers are still waiting to learn precisely what the deal will mean for their future services. So far Liberty Global has only talked about “capitalizing on the exciting opportunities that the digital revolution presents” and the “significant potential to monetize [Virgin Media’s] customer base, with opportunity to deliver current customers enhanced bundled and premium services“ (here).

In the meantime there are no major changes to worry about as the administrative processes of such an acquisition tend to slow the introduction of new products, branding and or services. We expect to get a better idea of what’s ahead sometime later this year.