Lawyers help Daisy with deals
YORKSHIRE lawyers have advised business telecoms provider Daisy Group on the sale of its WiMAX spectrum licences for £12.5m and, in a separate deal, its loss-making WiFi business to the management team.
Law firm Eversheds in Leeds, led by Keith Froud, partner and head of corporate, with corporate associate Sarah Turner, acted for Daisy.
AIM-listed Daisy, which is based in the Lancashire town of Nelson, said the disposal of these “non-core” loss-making assets would improve cash flow and further strengthens group’s balance sheet.
The WiMAX spectrum licences, sold to UK Broadband, part of the PCCW Group, were held by the group’s Freedom4 Limited sub-group.
The division made a loss of £2.4m, in the nine months to the end of September and the group had valued it at £4.9m.
Daisy said the sale of the licences will eliminate an annual cash outflow of £800,000m, while the subsequent closure of Freedom4 will save an additional £1m in cash each year.
The Company has also sold its loss-making WiFi business Freedom4 WiFi Limited to the existing management team for a “nominal” sum.
The WiFi business represented a cash drain of £200,000 a year for the group and made a loss of £300,000 in the 15 month period to March 31, 2010. It has been disclosed within discontinued operations since September 2009.
Matthew Riley, chief executive of Daisy Group, said: “Our core strategy is to become the leading provider of unified communications to the SME and mid-market business customers.
“The WiMAX and WiFi businesses were not core to the Daisy Group, and the disposals mean we can focus on our unified communications strategy, as well as improve cash flow.”
