Pure acquires NewTel for €1.1m


7 Sep 2007

Irish telecoms operator Pure Telecom has acquired the former Irish operations of Australian firm Orion Telecoms for €1.1m, according to sources.

This move that will potentially increase Pure’s turnover to €15m and provide it with 12,000 additional subscribers.

An informed source explained that Pure paid an initial sum of €900,000 for the company followed by a further payment of €200,000.

NewTel was established in Ireland in 1999 and based on revenues the Irish subsidiary was the largest subsidiary of Orion Telecommunications in Europe.

A UK subsidiary was set up in 2003 and all customer service, billing and collection was conducted from NewTel’s CityWest operation.

Pure Telecom says it will operate NewTel under its existing brand name and customers will see no disruption in their service.

Turnover for Pure Telecom last year was €7m and combined with NewTel’s turnover of €8.5m could lead to potential revenues for Pure of €15m, chief executive Paul Connell said.

“The added value for these customers is that we intend to bring Pure Telecom’s customer service ethos to NewTel,” he stated.

“This includes a personalised account management system that ensures, among other services, a human voice at the end of the line, and a rapid turnaround on resolving any issues, without the necessity to jump through hoops,” he added.

By John Kennedy