BBC Looking into Buying Out Virgin Media

Large media conglomerates continue to change dancing partners. This time it's happening across the pond. On Monday of this week (April 21), the Wall Street Journal reported that the BBC is looking for a private equity firm to help it buy out its partner Virgin Media. It is not clear if the rest of Virgin Media's TV portfolio will be part of this deal, which is referred to as the UKTV venture. UKTV has many older British shows that are very popular, such as Fawlty Towers, and also controls several channels such as UKTV Style, UKTV Food, and UKTV History. If the deal goes through, BBC Worldwide would own a majority stake in UKTV, and plans to launch numerous channels around the world in an effort to increase its profits to about $400 million. The deal would also help Virgin Media reduce some of its large debt. About 10 PE firms have submited bids to paricipate with the BBC in the buyout, including U.S. based Providence Equity Partners.