BT has acquired UK broadband provider TalkTalk in a pre-pack administration, confirming an earlier FT report. The FTSE 100 group will take control of TalkTalk's consumer and wholesale divisions, shorn of its debts, and anticipates a £400mn hit to its cash position in the current financial year. The deal grants BT 1.5mn additional UK broadband customers and marks the end of a prolonged sale process for TalkTalk, owned by Ares Management and founder Sir Charles Dunstone.
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy invoked a public interest intervention notice for the deal to consider impacts on public health, critical national infrastructure and supply to vulnerable customers. She will await the Competition and Markets Authority's findings on October 19. BT, the UK's largest broadband provider with a market share of about 30 per cent, faces potential competition concerns given Openreach is TalkTalk's largest supplier.
TalkTalk had previously struggled since being taken private in 2021 by Toscafund with £527mn of added debt. Shareholders including Dunstone and Ares have repeatedly injected capital, with total injections reaching £470mn. The company's retail customer base has fallen from more than 2.5mn in 2023 to about 1.6mn in May.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing