At least four bidders submitted offers in the first round of an auction of Virgin Radio on Wednesday, but none were thought likely to bring a smile to the face of its owner, SMG.

Those believed to have expressed a formal interest in the station are Vitruvian, the private equity house; Global Radio, which has also made an indicative £313m bid for GCap Media; UTV, which tried to merge with SMG in 2006; and the little-known Absolute Radio