The Sunday Telegraph reported that offers for Virgin were received from Global Radio and private equity firm Vitruvian Partners.
SMG could restart the sale process at a later stage and is preparing Virgin for an initial public offering as an alternative. The IPO was due for the late autumn, but was then delayed by the defection of chief executive Paul Jackson to GCap Media last month.
SMG postponed the sale of its outdoor media division Primesight earlier this year after bids failed to match its expectations. It eventually sold Primesight last month for up to £62m.
Current conditions for the sale are not ideal as Emap is also selling its radio division, which includes the Magic and Kiss stations, and private equity bidders have found it harder to raise debt to fund deals.
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