Virgin Media deal to buy TV3 expected to be approved soon

Virgin Media Ireland's acquisition of TV3 Group is expected to be approved by regulators as early as next week. The broadcaster, which also owns 3e, was sold to Liberty Global's Irish subsidiary in July for €80 million, with €7 million more payable if TV3 hits certain commercial targets.

The deal needs approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Minister for Communications.

The broadcaster was put up for sale by British private equity group Doughty Hanson, which paid €265 million for the business in 2006.

“We are busy finalising our deal with Virgin Media. That will all happen in the next week or so,” TV3 chief executive David McRedmond said.

He was speaking at a press preview for a future episode of twice-weekly soap opera Red Rock in which one of the main cast members is killed off. The episode, scheduled for December 30th, will be heavily promoted by TV3, which is hoping it will deliver a boost to the soap's viewership.

Mr McRedmond also said the sale of the series to Amazon was TV3's biggest programme export deal and that the broadcaster would ideally like to skip its summer break and add more episodes per week.