What will happen if Virgin Media merge with O2
John Malone's Liberty Global is in talks to merge his Virgin Media business with O2, a UK telecom operator, a tie-up that would reshape the British telecoms market. Telefonica had agreed to sell O2 to rival Three for ￡10.25bn in 2015, but was blocked by regulators. A merger with Liberty Global could now give mobile-phone companies more value than they agreed to five years ago. Liberty Global had also been in contact with Vodafone about a merger, but the two companies did not appear to be in a happy negotiation, with the deal not going ahead because of their differing views on the value of their respective companies. Virgin media is valued at £15.5bn and O2 at £11bn, according to bank analysts. Liberty Global is likely to pay telefonica between £5bn and £7.5bn in cash to reflect the £12bn of net debt Virgin Media has on its books. The merger is expected to generate £6bn in synergies and cost savings due to reduced operating expenses. Libert...