Communications giant agrees to sell off part of its business for £200m
Communications firm TalkTalk is selling off part of its business in a deal worth £200m.
The company, which has its headquarters in Salford Quays, has sold off its Fibre Nation division to Goldman Sachs backed City Fibre.
The deal was first reported in the summer but was put on hold after the Labour Party announced it was planning to nationalise BT’s broadband infrastructure business.
The Conservative’s resounding victory in the General Election means the deal will now go ahead.
An announcement was made on the Stock Market this morning by TalkTalk.
The agreement will lead to the creation of Northern Centre of Excellence and will help deliver the next generation of digital infrastructure across the North.
London-based City Fibre offers wholesale full-fibre internet infrastructure, working with a range of clients from consumer service providers to local authorities.
The sale is underpinned by long-term wholesale agreement with TalkTalk for residential and business products in the areas where CityFibre builds, whilst also allowing TalkTalk the flexibility to partner with other network providers.
TalkTalk said it intends to use the net proceeds from the sale to strengthen its balance sheet.
The sale is conditional onshareholder approval and is due to complete by the end of March.
Tristia Harrison, chief executive of TalkTalk, said: “We are pleased to announce today’s agreement with CityFibre, which is good news for TalkTalk, and good news for Britain and its full fibre roll-out ambition.
“Our investment over the last five years and the excellent work delivered by the FibreNation team, combined with CityFibre’s well-established platform, will support wide-geographic reach of full fibre and further drive competition in the market.
“The sale of FibreNation to CityFibre, in combination with a competitive wholesale agreement, enables us to continue our strategy to accelerate TalkTalk’s fibre growth for our residential and business customers, thereby delivering a superior customer experience at an affordable price.”
