Irish link to three bidders for Virgin Radio

Three Irish-backed media groups have lodged bids for Virgin Radio, a national station in the UK that has been put up for sale by its publicly-quoted parent, Scottish television company SMG.

Belfast-based TV and radio group UTV; Global Radio, which is backed by racing tycoons John Magnier and JP McManus; and London-based Absolute Radio, which is supported by property developer Paddy Shovlin, were among four groups to lodge offers by the close of the first round of bidding yesterday.

The other party is reported to be Vitruvian Partners, a private equity group in the UK that tried to buy Emap's Irish radio stations last year. Bids of up to £70 million (€94 million) are believed to have been sought for Virgin Radio.

UTV already owns the Wireless Group, one of the biggest commercial radio operators in the UK. In addition, it has a radio station in Belfast and six licences in the Republic.

UTV recently agreed to buy Dublin youth station FM104 from Denis O'Brien for €52 million.

Global Radio is also seeking to buy GCap, Britain's largest commercial radio group, having made a £313 million offer for the business recently.

The investment group bought the radio assets of Chrysalis in 2007 for £170 million and is looking to invest further in the radio industry.

Its backers have never been confirmed but are believed to include Mr McManus, Mr Magnier and successful racehorse owner Michael Tabor. Its chairman is Charles Allen, the former chief executive of ITV.

Absolute Radio is a UK-registered company formed in 2001 by Irishmen Donnach O'Driscoll and Adrian Robinson, and Briton Clive Dickens.

Mr O'Driscoll confirmed to The Irish Times that Absolute has lodged an offer. "We have submitted a bid and we think it's a very attractive asset," he said.

Absolute owns two stations in Oxford - rock station Jack FM and youth channel FM107.9. It also runs a radio consultancy business that operates in 10 countries.

It previously co-owned Juice FM in Liverpool with UTV until the Belfast-based company took full control in 2005.

Mr Robinson is an accountant and former partner with KPMG in Dublin. Mr O'Driscoll previously worked for the European Commission and was previously a joint director of radio at Luxembourg-based broadcaster RTL.

Landmark Enterprises, which Mr Shovlin controls, is Absolute's largest shareholder.

SMG put Virgin Radio up for sale as part of its plan to sell off non-core assets and cut its debt.

It previously tried to offload the station, but delayed this in 2007 due to the global credit crunch and disappointing offers.

SMG bought Virgin for £225 million in 2000, but has written down the value of Virgin Radio to £85 million. It is being sold debt free. The station was founded by Richard Branson and went on air in 1993. It is not clear if it can retain the Virgin brand after a sale by SMG.