Petaling Jaya – Astro All Asia Networks Plc has taken on three British rivals in the race for UK radio station Virgin Radio from media group SMG Plc. Bids reportedly range from £60 million (US$117million) and £70 million (US$136million) for Virgin Radio, which is valued by its owner SMG at £85million (US$166million). Other companies believed to be in the bidding include Global Radio, Absolute Radio and private equity firm Vitruvian Partners. Deadline for the next round of bids is mid-March. Astro currently operates eight FM terrestrial radio stations in Malaysia in Malay, Chinese, Indian and English. Its radio concerns contributed around 7% to Astro group revenue in 2007, according to a report from Netresearch-Asia Sdn Bhd, with a listener base of 11million people, commanding 51% of listener share and 73% of radio ad spend.