There are just two companies left in the race to purchase Virgin Radio from the Scottish Media Group, according to reports. Whilst one article says Global are still in the running, another suggests it's a two horse race between Absolute Radio and UTV.
In February, the Telegraph newspaper said that Malaysian pay-TV operator Astro All Asia Networks were also in the running, but yesterday the Sunday Mail said they were no longer part of the deal.
Meanwhile, another source suggests only talkSPORT owner UTV and JACK fm owner Absolute Radio have made it to the final two.
Whoever eventually becomes the new owner of Virgin Radio, in a transaction which has taken the best part of a year, will also have a battle to continue using the Virgin brand. SMG's continuous use of the Richard Branson trademark does not apply if the station is sold or taken-over.
John McCann, chief executive of UTV said Virgin would be a good fit for them: "The demographics are good as they are similar to TalkSport. There would be some cost savings in bringing them together, but this wouldn’t be our focus,” he told The Times last week.
