Ntl finally gets its hands on Virgin Mobile for £962.4m

The acquisition will enable ntl - which recently merged with its former rival Telewest - to become the UK's first "quad-play" company, capable of offering cable TV, internet access, fixed line telephony and mobile phone services.

Today's success is ntl's second stab at buying the well-known mobile phone brand after it had a previous bid of 817m for the company rejected by Virgin last December.

As part of the takeover, ntl has entered into a 30-year exclusive brand licence with Virgin Enterprises Limited for the use of the Virgin brand name, under which it will operate the new entity. But it did not disclose the terms of this agreement.

Virgin Mobile investors will be able to exchange each of their shares for either 372p in cash, 0.23245 ntl shares, or a mix of ntl shares and cash.

Sir Richard, whose Virgin Group owns a 71.3 per cent stake in Virgin Mobile, is to accept the third option, which will see him become the largest shareholder in the new entity.

James Mooney, executive chairman at ntl, said the move was "truly is a step-change transaction not only for ntl but for the media sector as an whole in the UK".

He added: "Central to today's announcement is our strong belief that offering a quad-play underpins true media convergence, and offering high quality communications services will, we believe, appeal to existing subscribers of the enlarged business as well as new customers."

And Charles Gurassa, chairman of Virgin Mobile, said: "We believe this offer is in the best interests of Virgin Mobile's shareholders, customers and employees."