Reports in the trade press have linked UTV with a potential bid for Virgin Radio, owned by Scottish Media Group (SMG).
Earlier this week SMG announced that it had received renewed interest in Virgin Radio, thought to include GMG Radio, Global Radio and Vitruvian, the private equity firm which last year bid for Emap’s radio division (see
SMG Receives Renewed Interest in Virgin Radio).
It is understood that the investment bank Jeffries International, which is advising SMG on the sale, last week sent information on Virgin Radio to prospective buyers.
Last year, SMG called-off the sale of Virgin Radio after bids failed to reach the £80 million asking price (see SMG To Call Off Virgin Radio Sale).
SMG considers both Virgin Radio and its cinema advertising business Pearl & Dean as non-core, but unlike its outdoor company Primesight (see City), has had trouble disposing of these.
The latest RAJAR figures, for Q3 2007, show that Total Virgin Radio (AM/FM) had a weekly reach of almost 2.5 million listeners, a year on year rise of over 4%.
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