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Carphone Warehouse considers bid for Tiscali broadband business
30 Mar 2009 | 13.45 Europe/London
Carphone Warehouse is considering a last-minute bid for the UK broadband arm of ISP Tiscali. The company, which is on the verge of administration and has been suspended from the Italian stock exchange, was being wooed by BSkyB until the deal appeared to fall apart on pricing issues. However, the media behemoth has recently renewed its interest in the troubled ISP, which has lost 100,000 customers in six months, so it will be interesting to watch Rupert Murdoch and Charles Dunstone duking it out for a larger market share.
There have been rumours of problems at Tiscali for some time. While Tiscali's customer numbers were down from 1.8 million in mid-2008 to 1.7 in September 2008 it is still a profitable business if it is run properly. A return to a reliable service and more competitive pricing should see customers flocking back.
Tiscali is currently under serious pressure from its bankers and, while a stay of execution was secured last Friday, it is very possible that the business will fall into administration in the short term unless a buyer emerges for the UK broadband operation. Whether BSkyB and Carphone Warehouse wait until the business is placed into administration, and then attempt a discounted buyout, remains to be seen.
Some industry observers are surprised by Carphone Warehouse’s move for Tiscali, as the company is already considering either selling or separating its own broadband operations into a separate company.
Source : Telegraph
There have been rumours of problems at Tiscali for some time. While Tiscali's customer numbers were down from 1.8 million in mid-2008 to 1.7 in September 2008 it is still a profitable business if it is run properly. A return to a reliable service and more competitive pricing should see customers flocking back.
Tiscali is currently under serious pressure from its bankers and, while a stay of execution was secured last Friday, it is very possible that the business will fall into administration in the short term unless a buyer emerges for the UK broadband operation. Whether BSkyB and Carphone Warehouse wait until the business is placed into administration, and then attempt a discounted buyout, remains to be seen.
Some industry observers are surprised by Carphone Warehouse’s move for Tiscali, as the company is already considering either selling or separating its own broadband operations into a separate company.
Source : Telegraph