Virgin Media is proceeding with plans to list on the UK stock exchange as it seeks to raise its domestic profile and attract new investors throughout Europe.
The media and broadband company is already listed on Nasdaq, but revealed earlier this year that it was considering a secondary listing in London as less than 10% of Virgin Media's existing shareholders are based in the UK.
Virgin Media CEO Neil Berkett said the company was at an “inflection point” in terms of growth and the ability to buy its shares in sterling would make it more attractive to British investors.
“Our products are not just high value, but a must-have. We started to think about our UK investor base and broadening it. We are testing local appetite,” he added. Berkett said the listing was not a capital-raising exercise, and Nasdaq would remain the core centre of liquidity. In the US the company has a market cap of £2.5 billion.
Virgin has lodged its prospectus to admit shares with the Official List at the Financial Services Authority and is due to begin trading on Thursday, October 1 under the ticker VMED.
Virgin was created in 2006 out of the merger of NTL and Telewest, which were both US-listed. Virgin Mobile was folded into the mix and the company was rebranded as Virgin Media.