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In a tough market for acquisitions, Liberty Global (LBTYA) is getting together this  week to decide if it will join the battle for Virgin Media.

The group has held premliminary talks with Virgin, but have taken a cautious approach to whether it will enter into the process in the existing sub-prime loans market.

Virgin Media was created from the merging of Virgin Mobile, NTL and Telewest. Its biggest shareholder is billionaire Richard Branson, with a 10.5 per cent stake in the company.

While sources close to the deal say it's still going forward, they add it may take several months longer to make it happen. Most the problem is connected to credit crunch connected to the collapse of the sub-prime loans market in the U.S., which has tightened up the money supply and created a lot of doubt whether the private equity can raise the approximate $23 billion required to purchase the company.

This is why being courted by companies like Liberty Global are considered important for the deal to go forward, with no guarantee that the private equity market will be liquid any time soon. That creates a problem because most companies, including Liberty Global would want to share the risk with another co-investor.

Another problem is competitor BSkyB in the British market, which is 39.1 percent owned by News Corp. (NWS-A), and has outmaneuvered Virgin Media on the home front, which generates questions on whether Virgin Media can compete with them, and if the investment would be worth it.

The process was started when American acquisition group Carlyle approached Virgin Media officials.