Virgin Media has been informally approached by a potential buyer for the $8 billion (£3.9 billion) group.

The television and telecoms group, which was recently publicly castigated by its leading investors, is being eyed up by buyout firms understood to include Carlyle.

The interest has prompted Virgin to instruct banks to work alongside its traditional adviser, Goldman Sachs.

However, discussions about a potential sale are said to be at a very early stage and people familiar with the process cautioned that it was not certain any deal could be pulled off.

A private equity consortium including Providence Equity Partners, Blackstone, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Cinven made a £10 billion approach to the cable group last summer.

That approach, thought to have been pitched at about $30 dollars a share, failed in part because of reluctance by Bill Huff, then a key shareholder, to hand over the company for less than $32 a share.

Since then, the cable group, which was formed last year by joining the former NTL:Telewest with Virgin Mobile, has continued to struggle to transform its fortunes. Yesterday its Nasdaq-listed shares were trading at just $24.

A poor set of first-quarter results in May led Franklin Mutual – the group’s second-biggest investor, with 9.3 per cent – publicly to question the company’s strategy.

Sir Richard Branson, who is the largest investor in Virgin Media, with 10.5 per cent, was also known to be unhappy about Virgin’s performance.

The decreased influence of Mr Huff, is said to have been one factor to have prompted the fresh private equity interest. The New Jersey hedge fund owner is today far lower down the group’s share register, with just 4.9 per cent.

A key ally of Mr Huff, who formerly worked with him, has also stepped down from the cable group’s board after complaints about Mr Huff’s influence.

In addition private equity players are thought to feel that Steve Burch, the group’s chief executive, might now be open to discussions about grappling with the business’s problems out of the public eye.

Virgin Group declined to comment.

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