The transmission and towers unit of British cable group NTL Inc. lost one potential bidder but gained another on today as the division's main rival, Crown Castle International Corp., ruled itself out of the race.
The division has attracted growing interest from private equity financiers keen on the cash-generative business, which NTL wants to sell to reduce its debt burden.
But while the Financial Times was reporting that private equity firm Hg Capital has approached the management of the division about a buyout, U.S.-based industry player Crown Castle said it was not in talks for the unit.
Hg Capital declined to comment.
Crown Castle transmits signals for the BBC and ITV Digital, while NTL Broadcast provides the service for British commercial TV stations ITV1, Channel Four and Channel Five.
NTL could raise around 1.2 billion pounds ($1.8 billion) from the sale toward paying off some of its $16.4 billion in debt, analysts said. The tower sites could turn out to be valuable for mobile operators building third-generation mobile networks.