Virgin Media to Sell to Liberty Global?

Virgin Media is in takeover talks with U.S.-based conglomerate Liberty Global. 

In some ways, assets changing hands in the communications and media business, while interesting for the firms and people involved, do not change the strategic backdrop of the affected markets. In other cases, there are strategic implications. 

This deal would not appear to be so much strategic, as tactical. Liberty Media long has invested in European cable TV assets. So Virgin Media would represent a bigger profile in the U.K. market, not out of line with what Liberty Global has invested in, in the past. 

The irresistible story line, though, is that a successful deal would pit Liberty Global's chairman, John Malone, head-to-head with Rupert Murdoch in the video entertainment business, as has been the case, from time to time, in the past.