British cable company NTL has made a bid approach to Britain's Virgin Mobile worth £817 million (€1.2 billion), and has the support of the mobile phone group's majority shareholder Virgin Group.
Under the potential offer, NTL has offered Virgin Mobile shareholders 0.09298 NTL shares for each share of Virgin Mobile as well as a cash alternative at 323 pence a share, it said.
Virgin confirmed it had recieved a takeover approach, and said it was considering its response and was mindful of its duty to maximise value for all of its shareholders.
A deal to buy Virgin Mobile would give NTL the ability to add mobile services to its existing line-up of TV, Internet and telephony services, giving it a potential advantage over rivals such as BT Group and satellite broadcaster BSkyB.