US merchant bank is preparing bid for NTL

A New York-based merchant bank specialising in the media industry, Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS), is preparing to bid for the cable firm NTL Ireland.

The bank is believed to have teamed up with Irish-based corporate finance house Merrion Capital to undertake due diligence on NTL's cable network. It has also sought the backing of Belgian bank KBC and its Irish subsidiary IIB to help finance a bid, which could be worth more than €200 million.

VSS was founded in 1981 by media professionals Mr John Veronis and Mr John Suhler, who felt that there were few finance houses with knowledge of how the media industry worked.

Mr Jeffrey Stevenson, who joined the firm in 1982 and subsequently managed its private equity investment activity, became a named partner of the firm in December 2001.

VSS has managed four private equity capital funds with 33 portfolio companies since 1987 and previously expressed an interest in the other Irish cable company, Chorus Communications.

VSS will face competition from a range of bidders, including Mr Denis O'Brien, who previously bid against NTL to buy control of Cablelink in 1999. Mr O'Brien is bidding with the backing of US-based private equity firm Carlyle Group.

The multinational owner of Chorus, UCG, is also preparing a bid for NTL Ireland and Mr John Riordan, an Irish cable expert, is considering an approach for the company, which supplies cable services to 340,000 customers in Dublin, Waterford and Galway.

Other potential bidders include Esat BT, which confirmed to The Irish Times yesterday that it was taking a look at NTL Ireland.

All the firms are to begin due diligence and gain access to data on the cable network next week.