John Malone's Liberty Global is in talks with Virgin Media to buy the pay-TV giant, Virgin said in a statement on Monday.
The deal, which Reuters reported could be worth up to $24 billion, would place Malone up against rival News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch, who owns Britain's largest satellite group BSkyB. Virgin is the U.K.'s second largest pay-TV provider.
Virgin, created in March 2006 with the merger of NTL Inc. and Telewest, says it has nearly five million subscribers.
A spokeswoman for Liberty declined to comment to TheWrap. A spokesman for Virgin did not immediately reply to requests for additional comment.
Malone and Murdoch previously locked horns a decade ago over control for DirecTV, the largest satellite provider in the United States. Both sides eventually backed down.
At 8:13 a.m. PT, shares in Liberty were up 0.82 percent to $111.79 and Virgin stock rose more than 17 percent to $45.27.
