TalkTalk is scrambling to secure its future amid the threat of administration, closing in on deals to sell its consumer and broadband arms as it seeks to save 900 jobs.<\/p>\n
The telecoms company said on Friday it was in the final stages of sealing deals to sell its consumer business as well as its wholesale operation, PXC.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe company expects to conclude both transactions imminently,\u201d TalkTalk said.<\/p>\n
The UK\u2019s fourth-largest broadband company was founded in 2003 by Charles Dunstone as a subsidiary of Carphone Warehouse<\/a>. It has struggled in the highly competitive telecoms market, with its customer numbers shrinking from 4 million in 2019 to about 1.5 million.<\/p>\n The debt-laden business is close to sealing a \u00a3100m deal to sell its consumer operation to Opus Broadband<\/a>, and to sell its wholesale operation PXC to Octopus Investments for an undisclosed sum.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Opus said: \u201c[Our] top priority is to ensure that every customer stays connected and that all TalkTalk employees\u2019 roles are protected.\u201d Octopus Investments declined to comment.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d be surprised if there is real disruption for TalkTalk customers if the deal with Opus goes ahead,\u201d said Karen Egan, a telecoms analyst at the research and consultancy firm Enders Analysis, told the BBC. \u201cThey would take over the running of the operations I would expect.<\/p>\n Charles Dunstone in 2016. At one stage TalkTalk\u2019s market value hit almost \u00a34.8bn. Photograph: Max Mumby\/Indigo\/Getty<\/p>\n \u201cThey may look to move the customers to their own platform but I\u2019m sure [the industry regulator] Ofcom would be focused on that being a very smooth transition, especially given that around 250,000 of TalkTalk\u2019s customers are deemed to be vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n If the cut-price deals go through TalkTalk\u2019s owners, which include Dunstone, will have to write off about \u00a31bn in debt.<\/p>\n PXC works with the Ministry of Defence although the sale process is unlikely to interrupt the services it provides.<\/p>\n It is understood that work with the MoD is through a third-party reseller, not PXC directly, and that regulations mean there is always at least one other telecoms company to prevent disruption.<\/p>\n It has been reported that Dunstone and TalkTalk\u2019s biggest shareholders, including the private credit company Ares Management, could inject more money to take control of the consumer business if a deal cannot be reached. Shareholders have provided \u00a3350m in emergency funding over the past two years.<\/p>\n Dunstone established TalkTalk in 2003 as a subsidiary of Carphone Warehouse in an attempt to shake up the UK broadband market<\/a>. The business was later demerged, and floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2010.<\/p>\n Initially a success story, at its peak in 2015 TalkTalk\u2019s market value hit almost \u00a34.8bn. But the company struggled at the budget end of the market, unable to invest at scale to compete with rivals such as Sky and BT. As customer numbers dwindled, Dunstone engineered a \u00a31.1bn deal with Toscafund Asset Management <\/a>in 2021 to take the company private, which saddled the business with debt.<\/p>\n