|
Virgin
media baron Branson takes on Murdoch, by Maria Nguyen
(Credit:
B&T)
Note:
Mediaman pitched this news to B&T whilst
Virgin Star was its client
Flamboyant billionaire Sir Richard Branson will soon
be adding ‘media baron’ to his name with
reports that he’s set to merge his mobile phone
company Virgin Mobile with UK pay TV and telecommunications
giant NTL to create a AUD$10.4bn media and entertainment
empire that will tackle the dominance of Rupert Murdoch’s
British Sky Broadcasting.
NTL
is a leading UK Internet, telephone and pay TV operator
that is publicly listed in Europe and the US. The
company is expected to rebrand under the Virgin banner
as part of the AUD$10.4bn deal, that will see Branson
swap his 72% holding in Virgin Mobile for a 14% stake
in the newly merged entity, which will boast 9 million
customers and more than AUD$10bn in revenues.
Branson
will be the largest single shareholder in the new
company.
The
new Virgin company will be the UK’s first to
offer a quadruple bundled service of pay TV, Internet,
mobile and fixed-line telephone.
According
to media reports, the new group will up the ante in
the lucrative UK pay TV market and is expected to
pose a significant threat to BskyB, which is 37% owned
by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation (Branson
is already said to be determined to wrestle the Premiership
football rights way from BskyB).
“James
Murdoch [who heads up BskyB] is going to choke on
his muesli when he hears about this one. It’s
going to be the battle of the brands – Virgin
versus Sky,” an unnamed banker told the UK’s
Sunday Telegraph newspaper on the weekend.
It’s
understood Virgin Mobile will be making an official
announcement early this week.
Closer
to home, Branson is battling it out with NSW businesswoman
Gabrielle Maas, who is offering Internet services
under the name of Virgin Star.
Branson’s
Virgin Enterprises, which is demanding Maas stop trading
under the Virgin name for fear consumers will mistake
Virgin Star for another of Branson’s services,
took the fight to the Federal Court.
A
ruling is yet to be made, but we’re sure the
other Australian businesses trading with a Virgin
moniker (Maas says there are 10 out there) are keeping
a close eye on the case.
Media
websites
B&T
Mediaman
Sky
NTL
|
