In his first interview since its $23bn takeover of Virgin Media (NasdaqGS: VMED - news) , the CEO of Liberty Global (NasdaqGS: LBTYA - news) tells Andrew Cave how the group will take on Britains big players. <\/p>\n
In between announcing and completing Liberty Globals takeover of Virgin Media , chief executive Mike Fries has somehow found time for another job. <\/p>\n
Im the lead singer in a CEO rock band, he laughs. Weve raised more than $2m for charity. We just played with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and raised $850,000 in one night with a 'Bach to Rock concert. <\/p>\n
The band is called The Moderators and is made up of other Denver-based business executives who first performed at a Christmas party five years ago. <\/p>\n
We do it for fun, says Fries, 50. We do songs from U2, classic stuff from the Stones and Van Morrison and [the] 1980s stuff like Billy Idol. Its a real eclectic mix and you know the words to every song. We dont take risks. <\/p>\n
That seems to be the mantra for the Virgin Media takeover, too. Liberty, which is based in Denver, Colorado, is paying $23.3bn (15bn). <\/p>\n
However, in his first major interview since the deal completed at the end of last month, Fries stresses it will be business as usual. <\/p>\n
Its about continuing the organic growth story Virgin has achieved, he says. Were not going to come in and mess with all the things that are working well. <\/p>\n
Secondly, its about creating synergies out of the scale the deal provides because of our ability to centralise some things like programme acquisition and procurement of equipment and technology. Those two items alone represent probably $5m of expenditure a year. <\/p>\n
About 16pc of Virgin Medias revenues comes from business-to-business sales, much more than in Libertys other European businesses. Virgin Media also has 3m mobile subscribers in the UK something Liberty doesnt have elsewhere in Europe. <\/p>\n
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Liberty Global chief Mike Fries sees broadband speeds going up and prices coming down<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In his first interview since its $23bn takeover of Virgin Media (NasdaqGS: VMED - news) , the CEO of Liberty Global (NasdaqGS: LBTYA - news) tells Andrew Cave how the group will take on Britains big players. In between announcing and completing Liberty Globals takeover of Virgin Media , chief executive Mike Fries has somehow found time for another job. Continue reading