Confirmed: Morgan Stanley to buy NTL Ireland, will sell on to UPC

KevIRL

Just heard from a mate who works for NTL that an announcement will be made in 2 weeks that Setanta are going to be taking over the company.

Alun

I wonder, if this is true, will it be good news or bad? I'd never heard of them until I heard of the Setanta Sports channel, which I personally never watch, along with any of the other sports channels. Do they do anything other than produce a Sports channel?

Mossy Monk

Setanta are going for years with PPV operations all over the world. very successful company afaik. not sure if they do anything other than sport

IDM

Setanta rip us off with PPV over here in the States. I ended up paying $20 to see England v. Northern Ireland ... and that was at the pub ! Setanta actually forces the pubs to charge admission. But hey, it's better to have an expensive option than no option at all. I have to say I've been quite impressed with their Irish sports channel, though. So hopefully the takeover won't be a bad thing ...

Infini

IDM wrote:

Setanta rip us off with PPV over here in the States. I ended up paying $20 to see England v. Northern Ireland ... and that was at the pub ! Setanta actually forces the pubs to charge admission. But hey, it's better to have an expensive option than no option at all. I have to say I've been quite impressed with their Irish sports channel, though. So hopefully the takeover won't be a bad thing ...

That's a complete rip-off! :mad:

Aquos76

A very good write up in todays indo about the prospective buyers. Looks like Setanta backers have backed out though. The company which owns Chorus is widely believed to be favourites.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

a bientot

If UGC wins the prize (340,000 homes) and UPC is the new name for the Dublin/Galway/Waterford cable tv and radio service can we expect a normal pricing structure that is typical of what the mainlanders pay UPC.......? 12 euros per month for a minimum of 35 channels in the very basic package..........actually the channel line up in all countries where UGC operate is multi-lingual.....and copyright fees are shown separately on subscribers bill.
Sorry about those who hate all languages except the language of Shakespeare, as the French call it, referred to as 'our' language by some!

SteM

a bientot wrote:

If UGC wins the prize (340,000 homes) and UPC is the new name for the Dublin/Galway/Waterford cable tv and radio service can we expect a normal pricing structure that is typical of what the mainlanders pay UPC.......?12 euros per month for a minimum of 35 channels in the very basic package

I shouldn't imagine so. It's not like NTL Ireland is the same as NTL UK at the moment so there's nothing to suggest that UGC will have the same structure in Ireland as mainland Europe. Is the system here even capable of carrying 35 analogue channels with Digital on top of that?

a bientot wrote:

Sorry about those who hate all languages except the language of Shakespeare, as the French call it, referred to as 'our' language by some!

Here we go again.

chorus techy

Doubt it, somehow. Basic packages for that price and with that many channels are generally on networks where all customers have been converted to digital television and analogue has ceased. NTL is much the same in the UK where they axe most of the analogue services once your area has been digitally upgraded, meaning you need a seperate STB (and subscription) for each tv AND video.

a bientot

I beg to differ with you on this......see UPC websites around Europe and you will see that most services are in analogue take Bruxelles, Varsovie, Prague etc
I would be happy to take 30 analogue or digital channels for 13 euros per month......

But why is this unmentionable company quitting Eire in M & S parlance?
Is it because they have been too successful in convereting all 340,000 customers to digital and getting 30 euros per month out of each household?
Why is there so much DGW cable advertising at present? Is it because they had an advertising contract signed before the decision to quit was made and they now are desperate to use this up before they 'get the boat'?

No, it is the fact that they have only sold the 100+ channel digital package to 22,000 after more than four years marketing from these Ph D marketing geniuses. The other 50,000 digital customers were easily 'captured' by simply changing all mmds analogue customers around Dublin, Galway and Waterford over to digital.
The tome of an annual report recently published by this company boasted of its success in getting 4100 new subscribers an the last quarter of 2004. New digital customer figures were not mentioned.
Also let us remember that Telecom/RTE provided the cable tv and radio service to 370,000 in 1999.
Open to be challenged

causal

It seems it went pear shaped for ntl after buying cablelink alright.
Check out this article from hackwatch back in 7-May-1999 where it says:

NTL will also introduce a telephone service to Cablelink subscribers allowing them to avail of an unmetered local call charge of 0.035 as opposed to Telecom Eireann's £0.115 charge per unit. The move would effectively rip the heart out of Telecom Eireann's domestic and commercial market as Cablelink's main network is in Dublin City and it also has the main population centres of Waterford and Galway. This coupled with internet access via cable has the capability to drastically affect the internet access market in Ireland.

Well 6 years later ntl don't have a telephone service, and we're still hoping that ntl (or the new owners) will offer a substantially superior broadband product than the DSL providers; and from their point of view it should be to a heck of a lot more broadband customers than they have.
So all three prongs of their business have fallen short: tv, internet, phone.
Maybe that's why it's selling for 1/3 to 1/2 of what it did 6 years ago.

causal

causal

More developments in this post , UGC & John Riordan bids 'shortlisted'; Setanta and Denis O'Brien bids 'in reserve'


causal

icdg

Interesting. Makes it rather likely that UGC will win. We will then be seeing a Competition Authority inquiry into the merger of Chorus and NTL, that could last months.

Renaming this thread

SteM

icdg wrote:

Interesting. Makes it rather likely that UGC will win. We will then be seeing a Competition Authority inquiry into the merger of Chorus and NTL, that could last months.

Do UGC own Chorus too? From all I've heard of them Chorus are an even bigger shamles than NTL when it comes to customer support etc.

icdg

Part of the problem with Chorus is that they are an amalgamation of many seperate cable companies (which eventually resolved into Irish Multichannel and CMI Cable, which then merged to become Chorus). Their analogue network has different things in different places in nearly every town. At least NTL only have to support three cable networks, which are pretty standard in design and lineup.

From an NTL customers' point of view, I would be hopping that our DTV service is not "downgraded" to the Chorus one, which has less than half the channels NTL carry. For three times the price! The problem being that the new company will need a digital super-head-end in Ireland to operate. Chorus are the owners of the only one in the state...

ebsa

icdg wrote:

Interesting. Makes it rather likely that UGC will win. We will then be seeing a Competition Authority inquiry into the merger of Chorus and NTL, that could last months.

Maybe not right now...

http://www.enn.ie/news.html?code=9598751

Morgan Stanley is to buy NTL Ireland on behalf of UGC in order to avoid a lengthy competition probe which would delay NTL's expected merger with Telewest.

UGC is the highest bidder for the Irish cable operator NTL Ireland, but has passed its preferred bidder status to US investment bank Morgan Stanley in an effort to avert a full regulatory review by the Irish Competition Authority. Morgan Stanley represented UGC in a bidding process which started earlier this year, during which the media company offered EUR320 million for the NTL Ireland.

It had been expected that the sale to UGC would proceed subject to Competition Authority approval. However, it has been reported that NTL is anxious to close the sale as quickly as possible ahead of a widely expected merger with Telewest in Britain.

As a result, Morgan Stanley is to buy NTL Ireland in an arrangement known as "warehousing." NTL's Irish assets will be parked with the investment bank until it can be sold on to UGC at a later date.

causal

There's no sidestepping the Competition Authority, they're just postponing the protracted investigation for a shorter one, because ntl:uk want to offload nt:irl quickly so that ntl:uk can proceed with their Telewest merger.

Even a sale to Morgan Stanley would have to be approved by the Competition Authority, since the sale of NTL Ireland is considered a "media merger" which brings it under the authority's umbrella. The future sale of NTL Ireland to UGC by Morgan Stanley would also need the approval of the Competition Authority.

causal

JDxtra

...but don't ntl: and Chrous typically operate in different areas?

If the franchise areas don't overlap then I see any need for the competition authority to be getting heavily involved.

icdg

The main problem is that because Liberty Media have a stake in BSkyB, that they will have to investigate whether Malone can influence both Sky and NTL, and whether that will impede competition.

Of course, if that really was the case, then Malone should never have been allowed snap up Chorus in the first place.

Alison1

icdg wrote:

The main problem is that because Liberty Media have a stake in BSkyB, that they will have to investigate whether Malone can influence both Sky and NTL, and whether that will impede competition.

Of course, if that really was the case, then Malone should never have been allowed snap up Chorus in the first place.

Does anyone have any idea on the implications of the employees of both Chorus and NTL. Over 400 employed by Chorus in Limerick alone and probably more by NTL in their franchise area. At the end of the day a lot of people will lose their jobs but will NTL or Chorus bear the brunt of these cuts.

chorus techy

There will inevitably be people layed off, such as engineers, or people who's functions "double up" with ntl and chorus. But you must remember that ntl is majority cable and chorus is majority MMDS so a lot of engineer staff will still be required. And they can't possibly lay off customer support staff - ntl is understaffed enough as it is!

icdg

It depends just where they decide to run the merged company from - Limerick or Dublin. I would suspect the choice of head office location will dictate whose staff gets laid off. If Limerick, I suspect many NTL head office staff would be reluctant to move down, likewise, I'm not sure how many of the Chorus head office staff would want to move to Dublin.

causal

At a guess I'd say they'll locate their head-office in Dublin.
Dublin or Limerick : Jesus or Barabbas

causal

a bientot

I wonder when will Chorus be getting its new name 'UPC' (cable) and a properly constructed webpage to match that of its fellow services in the eleven countries on the mainland?
Or is UGC waiting for its hoped-for buy out of ntl to change all the names to UPC?
And yes, the company will be based in Roxboro, Limerick, where there is plenty of extra space to accommodate more local staff or ex-ntls.......thanks to extra government grants to stay out of Dublin.
ntlers in Dublin who are not willing to apply for a job with UPC will be given the choice of going 'home to mother house' in London or whereever or becoming redundant.
However, it is stunning to have to suffer all the death bed advertising from this company called ntl including three letters begging me to come back as a customer and offering me an amnesty on all the money I owe them....

More of this absolute madness from these marketing geniuses with their five page CVs.........

Marcopolo85

a bientot wrote:

I wonder when will Chorus be getting its new name 'UPC' (cable) and a properly constructed webpage to match that of its fellow services in the eleven countries on the mainland?
Or is UGC waiting for its hoped-for buy out of ntl to change all the names to UPC?
And yes, the company will be based in Roxboro, Limerick, where there is plenty of extra space to accommodate more local staff or ex-ntls.......thanks to extra government grants to stay out of Dublin.
ntlers in Dublin who are not willing to apply for a job with UPC will be given the choice of going 'home to mother house' in London or whereever or becoming redundant.
However, it is stunning to have to suffer all the death bed advertising from this company called ntl including three letters begging me to come back as a customer and offering me an amnesty on all the money I owe them....

More of this absolute madness from these marketing geniuses with their five page CVs.........

And you obviously have a hand in this decision-making process?

John R

a bientot wrote:

I wonder when will Chorus be getting its new name 'UPC' (cable) and a properly constructed webpage to match that of its fellow services in the eleven countries on the mainland?
Or is UGC waiting for its hoped-for buy out of ntl to change all the names to UPC?
And yes, the company will be based in Roxboro, Limerick, where there is plenty of extra space to accommodate more local staff or ex-ntls.......thanks to extra government grants to stay out of Dublin.
ntlers in Dublin who are not willing to apply for a job with UPC will be given the choice of going 'home to mother house' in London or whereever or becoming redundant.

Conjecture masquerading as fact I reckon.

a bientot wrote:

However, it is stunning to have to suffer all the death bed advertising from this company called ntl including three letters begging me to come back as a customer and offering me an amnesty on all the money I owe them....

The company is not being wound down or sold off to be asset stripped, it is being sold as a profitable business with a large customer base and an attractive product line, it is no reason why they should axe their marketing campaign.

The tax man

a bientot wrote:

ntlers in Dublin who are not willing to apply for a job with UPC will be given the choice of going 'home to mother house' in London or whereever or becoming redundant.

Strange that,when NTL took over Cablelink I don't remember anyone having to apply for thier job with NTL.
What makes you think NTL is full of English staff???

cdc

What makes you think NTL is full of English staff???

The 'Ireland' in 'Ntl Ireland' is clearly Ireland the British home nation. And their Non WASP channel purges are well known.

Alison1

a bientot wrote:

I wonder when will Chorus be getting its new name 'UPC' (cable) and a properly constructed webpage to match that of its fellow services in the eleven countries on the mainland?
Or is UGC waiting for its hoped-for buy out of ntl to change all the names to UPC?
And yes, the company will be based in Roxboro, Limerick, where there is plenty of extra space to accommodate more local staff or ex-ntls.......thanks to extra government grants to stay out of Dublin.
ntlers in Dublin who are not willing to apply for a job with UPC will be given the choice of going 'home to mother house' in London or whereever or becoming redundant.
However, it is stunning to have to suffer all the death bed advertising from this company called ntl including three letters begging me to come back as a customer and offering me an amnesty on all the money I owe them....

More of this absolute madness from these marketing geniuses with their five page CVs.........

From speaking to a few friends of mine working in Chorus the fear is that all functions with overlap between NTL and Chorus will relocate to Dublin, the combined companies of Chorus and NTL will then be called UPC Ireland, Irish headquarters in Dublin with some serious job cuts on the way.

a bientot

Finally UGC have updated their webpage although it is dated 14 March 2005 (but I have been checking it for weeks without seeing what is there today) and it gives all details of the cable systems they operate around the world - Europe................and this also includes Ireland where they claim to have (only) 112,900 basic subscribers..............
The Irish Times even today claims that they have 200,000 customers.....

For further info surfers are advised to go to www.chorus.ie
My oh my! what an excuse for a webpage take-over!
And by the way all basic services are multi-lingual. Nothing extraordinary about this in mainland Europe......sorry, shouldn't mention normality in this country.

See

http://www.unitedglobal.com/euFmain.cfm

This may interest those who can listen in a few hours time....will Ireland be mentioned?

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050504/law142.html?.v=2

a bientot

Can anyone help?

I have been to the webpage but don't know how to access the webcast......

a bientot

Sorry,

I only accounted for cable subscribers; the total of cable and mmds is in effect 201,900 subscribers but this, of course, includes analogue and digital. Customers may opt for basic analogue or basic digital. They are not obliged to avail of the analogue basic package (as with ntl) to receive the extra channels in digital, if I understand correctly.

chorus techy

No you don't HAVE to subscribe to analogue - if you already have one of the Pace CryptoVision decoders, however, and switched over to chorus digital a few years back, you get the analogue service on another TV through that analogue de-scrambler at no extra charge, so long as you subscribe to the chorus basic digital package. For some reason, you can also get Sky Movies 1 through the analogue box, even if you don't subscribe to the digital movies package.

thund3rbird_

a bientot wrote:

..............

And yes, the company will be based in Roxboro, Limerick, where there is plenty of extra space to accommodate more local staff or ex-ntls.......thanks to extra government grants to stay out of Dublin.
........

ntl's callcentre is in Waterford - possibly thanks to those government grants you mention

ntlers in Dublin who are not willing to apply for a job with UPC will be given the choice of going 'home to mother house' in London or whereever or becoming redundant.

you see to have some anti-anglo issues.
do you just watch the 4 Irish channels or do you get your tv channels from that well-known Irish company BSkyB ????

However, it is stunning to have to suffer all the death bed advertising from this company called ntl including three letters begging me to come back as a customer and offering me an amnesty on all the money I owe them....

More of this absolute madness from these marketing geniuses with their five page CVs.........

you obviously have issues regarding ntl cos they cut you off as you didn't pay your bill !!

I doubt if the wording of the letters was in a tone of anthing resembling begging.
probably the same offer letter sent to all non/ex-ntl-subscribing households

---

Marcopolo85

The tax man wrote:

Strange that,when NTL took over Cablelink I don't remember anyone having to apply for thier job with NTL.
What makes you think NTL is full of English staff???

Yep - NTL is like most Irish companies.......the vast majority of people working there are Irish, and have been there under all the different owners down the years.

It's called being at the coal face, a bientot (what does that mean anyway?).
Managment come and go, but the people working there are like gardeners..still minding the place! It's probably the same in Chorus - Irish (and probably some English) people just getting on with their jobs. Both companies aren't perfect, buty what company is?

It's a pity you appear to have such an axe to grind with English people. While I was never a fan of John Bull, I'm prepared to give anyone a chance. However, given your username, I would assume that you are possibly a French language lobbyist and zealot. That's fine if it floats your boat..........but it doesn't mean everyone else has to capitulate.

If you're Irish why have you such a passion for a foreign language? It isn't as if a lot of us speak it anyway. If I was as passionate as you (and good luck to you) I'd be moving to Le Republic.

It's also shocking to see you gloating at the prospect of people losing their jobs, be they Irish, English, French, or whatever. It's kind of sad really.......

belmulletman

Taken from Silicon Republic:
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single4785


When European cable operator UGC gains control of NTL later this year the company will embark on a €200m infrastructure investment strategy that will position the company to compete aggressively against Eircom for telephony and broadband services, sources have told siliconrepublic.com.
In recent weeks UGC, which put in the highest bid for NTL with a €320m offer, passed its preferred bidder status to US bank Morgan Stanley, which will buy NTL Ireland and pass control on to UGC later this year.

siliconrepublic.com has learned that Morgan Stanley could announce its acquisition of NTL Ireland as early as next week. The company will then immediately commence discussions with the Competition Authority aimed at paving the way for UGC to gain control of the company. It is predicted that UGC will gain control of NTL Ireland within six to nine months.

UGC acquired Irish cable operator Chorus last year for US$55m. It is envisaged that if the company came to own NTL Ireland it could run into competition issues with the Competition Authority, which could end up drawing out the sales process by up to six months. Morgan Stanley’s negotiations with the Competition Authority will be aimed at offsetting such issues.

Informed sources have told siliconrepublic.com that UGC — with a war chest of €1bn for infrastructure and acquisitions — is planning to spend €200m on upgrading its cable infrastructure in Ireland to be capable of handling frequencies of up to 850MHz and beyond.

By upgrading existing cable ducting to fibre cable and deploying coaxial cable capable of carrying up to 850MHz from the street to the living room, sources suggest that the company could deploy broadband speeds of between 15Mbps and 30Mbps to the home, ideal for the triple play of television, broadband and voice that will define the communications market of the future.

An informed industry source told siliconrepublic.com: “DSL across copper can never go beyond a couple of megahertz. However, a cable modem on coaxial cable can hold 50 times more capacity than copper wire and as a result Eircom will have a real competitor on its hands.

“If UGC succeeds in acquiring NTL Ireland in six to nine months, it will be able to upgrade its network very quickly and ultimately offer 15Mbps to 30Mbps of always-on internet, free phone calls and television services. Dublin has the highest penetration of cable than any city in Europe. The only problem is the cable network is in bad shape and needs investment. In the US, cable companies such as ComCast and Time Warner are outperforming traditional fixed-line telecom companies.

“If UGC does succeed in acquiring NTL Ireland, it could be a huge competitor to Eircom,” the source told siliconrepublic.com.

KTRIC

Death To Eircon, Long Live Ntl

Mossy Monk

K-TRIC wrote:

Long Live Ntl

ahem, UGC

KTRIC

Mossy Monk wrote:

ahem, UGC

Ah yeah, that's what I ment

weehamster

Well if they can pull it off, brill, but me thinks its going to cost a bit more that €200m. They have the whole of Dublin to replace.

celticfc

Is it just me or does this all sound a little reminiscent of what was being said when ntl: aquired Cablelink?

Mind you, ntl did seriously underestimate the amount of cash they would have to invest & the amount of work needed to complete an upgrade, you would think that UGC would have more of an idea now.

Alison1

Marcopolo85 wrote:

Yep - NTL is like most Irish companies.......the vast majority of people working there are Irish, and have been there under all the different owners down the years.

It's called being at the coal face, a bientot (what does that mean anyway?).
Managment come and go, but the people working there are like gardeners..still minding the place! It's probably the same in Chorus - Irish (and probably some English) people just getting on with their jobs. Both companies aren't perfect, buty what company is?

It's a pity you appear to have such an axe to grind with English people. While I was never a fan of John Bull, I'm prepared to give anyone a chance. However, given your username, I would assume that you are possibly a French language lobbyist and zealot. That's fine if it floats your boat..........but it doesn't mean everyone else has to capitulate.

If you're Irish why have you such a passion for a foreign language? It isn't as if a lot of us speak it anyway. If I was as passionate as you (and good luck to you) I'd be moving to Le Republic.

It's also shocking to see you gloating at the prospect of people losing their jobs, be they Irish, English, French, or whatever. It's kind of sad really.......

Couldn't agree more. There will be sizeable job cuts in either Dublin or Limerick, perhaps both and for people to golat at such a prospect beggars belief.

Marcopolo85

celticfc wrote:

Is it just me or does this all sound a little reminiscent of what was being said when ntl: aquired Cablelink?

Mind you, ntl did seriously underestimate the amount of cash they would have to invest & the amount of work needed to complete an upgrade, you would think that UGC would have more of an idea now.

It's just been announced that UGC have bought NTL: Ireland for €325m.
You're spot on - Cablelink estimated in 1996 that it would cost IR£680m to upgrade the network for Digital, Internet, etc. But don't forget that a lot of the required infrastructure has been put in place by NTL. But there does remain a lot of work to be done in Dublin.

Marcopolo85

Alison1 wrote:

Couldn't agree more. There will be sizeable job cuts in either Dublin or Limerick, perhaps both and for people to golat at such a prospect beggars belief.

Exactly.

And we still don't have a reply as to why.........are you still there, a bientot?

The tax man

celticfc wrote:

Is it just me or does this all sound a little reminiscent of what was being said when ntl: aquired Cablelink?

Ah Celtic, you beat me to it.
Hopefully they don't go down the NTL road by promising the sun,moon and stars and delivering nothing(to the bulk of the network).

DMC

From: http://www.breakingnews.ie/2005/05/09/story201768.html

ntl Ireland sold for €325m
09/05/2005 - 18:18:18

ntl today announced that it has completed the sale of its telecommunications operations in the Republic of Ireland to MS Irish Cable Holdings, an affiliate of Morgan Stanley, for €325m.

Simon Duffy, chief executive officer of ntl, said: "We are very pleased to have sold our division in the Republic of Ireland on these terms. This transaction reinforces our commitment to maintaining a clear focus on growing and improving our UK communications and content distribution businesses.

" I would like to thank everyone in ntl Ireland for all they have contributed and achieved over the past several years. They have built a strong business and we wish them continued success."

ntl's division in the Republic of Ireland is the largest cable operator in the country, offering cable television and broadband services to residential customers and managed network services to corporate customers.

cdc

" I would like to thank everyone in ntl Ireland for all they have contributed and achieved over the past several years. They have built a strong business and we wish them continued success."

Typical hypocritical NTL nonsense.

Good riddance and DON'T COME BACK

icdg

And the press release...

LONDON, 9 May, 2005 - NTL Incorporated (NASDAQ: NTLI) today announced that it has completed the sale of its telecommunications operations in the Republic of Ireland to MS Irish Cable Holdings B.V., an affiliate of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MWD), for a price of EUR 325 million. ntl intends to use the net sale proceeds to repay principal amounts outstanding under its senior credit facility in accordance with the terms of that facility.

Morgan Stanley has advised ntl that it has entered into an agreement with UPC Ireland B.V., an indirect subsidiary of UnitedGlobalCom (NASDAQ: UCOMA) for the on-sale of ntl’s business in the Republic of Ireland to UPC Ireland B.V. Such a purchase would be subject to obtaining appropriate regulatory approvals.

Simon Duffy, Chief Executive Officer of ntl, said, “We are very pleased to have sold our division in the Republic of Ireland on these terms. This transaction reinforces our commitment to maintaining a clear focus on growing and improving our UK communications and content distribution businesses. I would like to thank everyone in ntl Ireland for all they have contributed and achieved over the past several years. They have built a strong business and we wish them continued success.”

ntl’s division in the Republic of Ireland is the largest cable operator in the country, offering cable television and broadband services to residential customers and managed network services to corporate customers.

ATTN: Threads on this topic merged.

icdg

Just to comment further...

I would expect that the NTL branding will possibly be retained until the company is sold on. "MS Irish Cable Holdings" doesn't sound like a snappy brand name, and I doubt a bank will want to hold on to a cable company anyway. The other alternative is to temporarily revive the Cablelink name, which NTL Ireland still owns.

The company UGC have set up is called UPC Ireland. I would presume this will be the eventual branding.

I wouldn't expect too many - if any - changes under Morgan Stanley - it should be essentially "steady as she goes", at least until regulatory clearence for UPC to take over is confirmed.

Alun

icdg wrote:

I would expect that the NTL branding will possibly be retained until the company is sold on. "MS Irish Cable Holdings" doesn't sound like a snappy brand name, and I doubt a bank will want to hold on to a cable company anyway. The other alternative is to temporarily revive the Cablelink name, which NTL Ireland still owns.

The only reason for the "temporary" sale to Morgan Stanley under the guise of "MS Irish Cable Holdings" is because of the considerable delay that would otherwise ensue getting a direct sale to UGC past the competition authority. ntl: is in a big hurry to be rid of ntl: Ireland due to the impending merger of ntl: UK and Telewest, and this way they can get rid of it pretty quickly, and in the mean time MS can initiate the sale to UGC which can take, well, as long as it takes, probably 6-9 months.