NTL has raised its offer for Virgin Mobile and given minoirty shareholders an option to take stcok in the new NTL. Richard Branson has gone further and is willing to take a slight discount to what the minority Virgin shareholders will receive. The revised offer was enough to bring Virgin to the negotiating table as the two companies have confirmed “preliminary” discussions according to this article. It seems that the acquisition will now go ahead and the new NTL will be rebranded as Virgin. I continue to like the potential of the enlarged NTL entity after the mergers with Telewest and VIrgin. The financial upside is substantial and if the new company can show some modest top line growth a stock price in the $80s is very plausible. Furthermore, the potential bid by private equity firms provides support and the possibility of reaching a target in the $80s sooner rather than later. Even if private equity walks away, remember that their interest confirms the significant upside for the new NTL.