TalkTalk considering possible £3bn sale

TalkTalk is facing a queue of potential suitors, it was reported on Friday, amid a global storm of telecom consolidations.

According to Sky News, FTSE 100 mobile and broadband conglomerate Vodafone had been mulling a possible offer in recent weeks, while Comcast’s UK subsidiary Sky was also said to be considering an approach.

Toscafund, which took the company private early last year, and TalkTalk founder and chairman Sir Charles Dunstone, both believed the company was now valued at more than £3bn, Sky News said.

It added that investment bank Lazard, which advised TalkTalk on its recent acquisition of network provider Virtual1, had been fielding possible suitors.

The company was yet to receive a formal offer, however.

In its latest annual report, TalkTalk’s revenue declined to £1.4bn from £1.6bn, although it blamed a shorter 11-month reporting period in 2021 and Covid-19 impacts for that.

Its customer numbers also slid to four million, from 4.3 million in 2019.

TalkTalk was taken private in March last year by Toscafund Asset Management, having been traded on the London Stock Exchange in 2010.

It was originally a brand of Carphone Warehouse - founded by Dunstone - before being demerged in 2010 following the acquisition of internet provider Tiscali UK in 2009.