Mobile retailer Carphone Warehouse is considering a last-minute bid for Tiscali’s UK broadband business following the collapse of takeover discussions between the troubled ISP and BSkyB.
Tiscali was recently taken off the Italian stock exchange after admitting it could not repay EUR601m (USD790m) in debt. The ISP hopes a sale of its UK business will allow it to pay off its creditors.
Carphone Warehouse, which pulled out of talks to buy Tiscali last year, hopes to acquire the ISP’s UK operations and 1.74m customers at a rock-bottom price.Sky is understood to have offered just GBP250m (USD354m) for Tiscali’s UK business, half the figure Tiscali wanted.
Commentators speculate that Sky is considering another bid for Tiscali. If it succeeds in acquiring Tiscali, Sky will become the third-largest ISP in the UK with 3.6m customers.
StrategyEye's related categories: Device Retailers - Mobile Phones, ISPs - Wired
StrategyEye's related companies: BSkyB, Carphone Warehouse, Tiscali
