There’s an emerging buzz in the telecom sector as Sky Business is reportedly keen on acquiring TalkTalk’s B2B service – TT Business Direct Limited. Currently, TT Business Direct caters to around 80,000 corporate clients. This make it a tantalizing acquisition target for Sky Business, which has been consistently trying to expand their enterprise customer base.
This proposed sale is a direct result of TalkTalk’s mounting debt pressures. Early reports this month alluded to attempts by TalkTalk to stabilize its financial situation. The firm is in debt to the tune of over £1.1 billion, with £350 million due next November and an additional £685 million due in February 2025.
Insiders speculate that the B2B unit could be the first on the list for asset liquidation, with the consumer and wholesale units possibly following suit. Senior executives from TalkTalk recently indicated the firm’s intention to focus on asset sale, citing that the discrete business units are more valuable individually than collectively.
TalkTalk has reportedly enlisted merger and acquisition experts Houlihan Lokey to manage the proposed sale. This puts Sky Business in a pool of interested parties eyeing the B2B unit, notably British firm Daisy Group, which had previously shown interest.
It’s worth mentioning that Daisy Group attempted to buy the unit for £175 million in 2018, but the talks ended without an agreement. In another twist, Virgin Media O2 approached TalkTalk about a possible £3 billion takeover, but this was later dropped due to market and regulatory uncertainties.
