Virgin Media has confirmed it is in takeover talks that could lead to a bid from US cable company Liberty Global in the coming days.Any deal would put Liberty Global's chairman, John Malone, head-to-head with his occasional nemesis Rupert Murdoch in the fierce battle for the UK's pay-TV customers.The company said on Tuesday: "Virgin Media confirms that it is in discussions with Liberty Global, a leading international cable company, concerning a possible transaction. Any such transaction would be subject to regulatory and other conditions."The Financial Times reported [paywall] on Monday night that Liberty Global was preparing to make a bid for Virgin Media – which has an enterprise value of more than $20bn – citing several people familiar with the situation. It said the deal had not been finalised and could still fall apart.The UK is seen as one of Europe's most competitive pay-TV markets, with Virgin Media battling for customers with BSkyB and BT Vision. Malone has said he "would love" to be operating in Britain, but refrained from bidding for BSkyB in 2011, after News Corp was forced to drop a bid for full control of the TV operator in 2011.Although bankers were apparently trying to stir things up, Malone said at the time he would not bid against Murdoch. He has said in the past: "It used to be a given, a saying in the industry: don't ever bid against Rupert Murdoch for anything Rupert wants, because if you win, you lose. You will have paid way too much."The pair have a long history. In 2004, the rivalry flared up when Malone managed to amass a near 20% stake in News Corporation, forcing Murdoch to buy him out. Eventually Murdoch offered up his stake in DirecTV at a knockdown price to get rid of his rival's disruptive influence.Last year, Forbes rated 81-year-old Murdoch the 36th richest person in America, while Malone – 10 years his junior – was ranked 57th.Liberty Global has pay-TV operations across the world, from Chile to Switzerland. Buying Virgin Media would give it savings across the group, if it could pool the purchase of set-top boxes and other technology. This is the second time in about five years that Malone has looked at buying Virgin Media.Richard Branson's Virgin Group has reduced its stake in Virgin Media to just under 3%, but receives a percentage of its revenues as a royalty payment each year, worth about £10m last year. Virgin Group would not have a veto over any deal.Shares in Virgin Media, which is listed on Nasdaq in New York, closed at $38.69 on Monday, giving the company a market capitalisation of $10.4bn. Its net debt at the end of the last quarter was £5.7bn. It has a secondary listing in London, where the shares jumped 14% in early trading.
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