Virgin Media faces losing its name if the sale to US private equity company goes ahead. Carlyle's offer, which is reported to be in the region of £11 billion, could involve a rebrand and dropping the name.
Virgin Media is still involved in a bitter dispute with Sky over the cost of carrying Sky's basic channels on its cable platform and, if the potential buyout includes cutting ties with Richard Branson, relations could be eased.
With a 10% share in the company, Branson is still one of Virgin Media's major shareholders and owns the rights to the Virgin name. It's not thought that Carlyle has already decided to drop the name as it could involve legal complications including an existing licensing agreement with Virgin.
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