Carphone Warehouse to sell off TalkTalk?

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 17 Nov 2008 at 10:02

The Carphone Warehouse is reportedly preparing to sell off its broadband arm, TalkTalk.

CEO Charles Dunstone has asked bankers to explore ways in which the TalkTalk business can be split from the rest of the retail group, according to a report in the The Sunday Telegraph.

The split could encourage other broadband providers to bid for TalkTalk. BSkyB and O2's parent company, Telefonica, could both be willing to pay up to £900m for the company, the newspaper claims.

BSkyB is currently in negotiations to buy Tiscali's UK business. Adding TalkTalk's 2.8 million broadband customers to the group would make Sky comfortably the UK's biggest single internet provider, climbing above BT.

Earlier this year, Carphone Warehouse was rumoured to be in negotiations to buy Tiscali itself, a deal that would have made it the country's biggest ISP.

The takeover rumours suggest the period of consolidation in the British broadband market is far from over. The country's six leading ISPs - BT, Virgin Media, Orange, Tiscali, Sky and Carphone Warehouse - now account for more than nine out of ten broadband accounts in the UK, following a rash of takeovers and mergers in the past couple of years.