By Foo Yun Chee and Kate Holton <\/p>\n
BRUSSELS\/LONDON (Reuters) - John Malone's Liberty Global will get unconditional EU clearance for its $15.8 billion bid for Virgin Media, two people familiar with the matter said on Monday, in a move which pits the U.S. billionaire against rival Rupert Murdoch. <\/p>\n
Liberty Global, Europe's No. 1 cable operator, unveiled the takeover offer for Britain's second-biggest pay-TV provider in February. The move underscores the growing rivalry between cable groups and traditional telecoms operators. <\/p>\n
\"The European Commission does not have any competition concerns about the deal,\" one of the sources said. <\/p>\n
The European Union competition authority is set to announce its decision by April 15. Antoine Colombani, Commission spokesman for competition policy, and Virgin Media declined to comment. A spokesman for Liberty Global was not available for comment. <\/p>\n
Malone, Liberty Global's controlling shareholder, clashed with Murdoch, owner of British satellite group BSkyB, a decade ago when they fought for control of U.S. satellite TV broadcaster DirecTV Group. <\/p>\n
The Virgin Media deal will reinforce Liberty Global's challenge against BSkyB, Britain's top pay-TV provider. <\/p>\n
The $15.8 billion value of the deal was the implied price on February 6, the day it was announced. <\/p>\n
(Editing by Adrian Croft) <\/p>\n
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EU regulators to approve $15.8 billion Liberty, Virgin deal: sources<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Foo Yun Chee and Kate Holton BRUSSELS\/LONDON (Reuters) - John Malone's Liberty Global will get unconditional EU clearance for its $15.8 billion bid for Virgin Media, two people familiar with the matter said on Monday, in a move which pits the U.S. billionaire against rival Rupert Murdoch. Liberty Global, Europe's No Continue reading