It emerged this morning that Carphone Warehouse has acquired the entire issued share capital of the holding companies of Tele2’s Ireland and UK carrier pre-select (CPS) operations for £8.5m sterling in cash.
It is understood that Carphone Warehouse has assumed liability for certain cash restructuring costs amounting to approximately £2m sterling.
Stephen Mackarel, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse in Ireland, commented: “This is a very exciting development for the Carphone Warehouse in Ireland as the acquisition of Tele2 combined with our TalkTalk brand now makes us the second-largest telecoms provider in the Irish fixed-line residential market.
“This acquisition enhances our strategy to provide our customers with the best value in both the mobile and fixed marketplace,” Mackarel said.
At the time of the deal’s completion, Tele2 had approximately 188,000 customers in the UK and 36,000 customers in the Republic of Ireland.
The acquisition is consistent with the group’s strategy of building its CPS customer base both organically and by selective acquisition.
Carphone Warehouse says it intends to migrate these customers onto its own network under the TalkTalk brand.
The transaction is expected to be marginally earnings enhancing in the current financial year, the company said.
By John Kennedy
