Carphone to buy Tiscali UK for €264.2m

Carphone Warehouse subsidiary TalkTalk plans to acquire Tiscali's UK operations for £236 million (€264.2 million).

The deal will see TalkTalk becoming the UK's second-largest residential broadband provider after BT, with 4.25 million subscribers - around 25% of the market.

“The combination of TalkTalk and Tiscali will offer our customers, both residential and business, Britain's largest and best fully unbundled network,” Tiscali UK CEO Mary Turner said.

As of the end of 2008, Tiscali's assets totaled around £457 million, with the company earning a profit before tax of £9.7 million on these assets during the financial year.

Speaking to the BBC yesterday, Carphone CEO Charles Dunstone said the company would eventually merge to a single brand, although Tiscali email addresses would be kept.  “We know the business well and the fit with TalkTalk is perfect,” Dunstone said.

Italian operator Tiscali currently has a debt of around €600 million.