Richard Branson, the controlling shareholder of Virgin Mobile, said yesterday it was up to the company to decide whether a $1.4 billion bid from cable TV firm NTL Inc. was acceptable.

The tycoon, in Hong Kong for an event related to his Virgin Atlantic Airways, owns 72 per cent of Virgin Mobile, which has received a buy-out offer from NTL valued at 323 pence per share.

"It is not for me (to decide)," Mr Branson said. "It is up to the company to decide whether the price is fair or not."

An industry source told Reuters that Virgin Mobile's board might hold out for a better offer and the firm's shares rallied as high as 356 pence, signalling investors are hopeful of a counterbid or a sweetened offer from NTL.

At 0825 GMT, the shares were down 0.7 per cent at 340 pence. Acquiring Virgin Mobile would allow NTL to add mobile services to its existing "triple-play" line-up of TV, internet and telephone services, giving it a potential advantage over rivals such as fixed-line telecoms carrier BT Group Plc and satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

It would create a group with around nine million customers and allow NTL, which agreed to buy its smaller cable rival Telewest earlier this year, to bring on board a brand with a reputation for customer service that UK cable companies have never matched.