The Sunday Telegraph is reporting Virgin Mobile shareholders want an increase of more than 20% in the original offer while rumors continue to swirl that indicate NTL is willing to bump its offer by 10%. The continuing rumors of private equity interest in the merged entity also complicate matters as Virgin Mobile shareholders want to make sure they get paid if the merged entity is sold at a premium.
It seems to me that Virgin Mobile shareholders are asking for a big price now so they can feel they participated in the private equity buyout or the potential in new NTLI as a public company. Maybe an increase in the stock component of any Virgin buyout could be the source of a settlement between the parties.
I continue to think that the private equity interest and intensity of the Virgin Mobile speculation shows that the new NTLI is undervalued relative to the current NTLI stock price.