UK cable company NTL has agreed to buy Virgin Mobile in a deal that values the mobile phone carrier's share capital at $1.66 billion.
NTL also said it has agreed to license the Virgin name from Virgin Group, creating a TV, broadband, fixed-line and mobile phone powerhouse under the brand.
Virgin Mobile investors will be able to exchange each of their shares for either 372p in cash, 0.23245 NTL shares valued at 389p each, or a mix of NTL shares and cash valued at 311p.
Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Group owns a 71.3 per cent stake in Virgin Mobile, has agreed to accept the third option, in effect receiving less than minority shareholders.
NTL, which recently completed its merger with smaller cable rival Telewest, has been examining Virgin Mobile's books for nearly three months since it unveiled a revised proposal for the company.
NTL's initial proposal, which would have compensated all shareholders equally, was rejected by Virgin Mobile's independent board members, who argued that minority shareholders would not benefit from the Virgin licensing deal.
Sir Richard will be the largest shareholder in the combined company.
NTL said it planned to refinance existing Virgin Mobile debt, which was approximately £192.7 million as of September 30th.