TalkTalk Group has picked advisers to spearhead a break-up that will lead to the sale of one of Britain’s biggest broadband providers.
Sky News has learnt that PJT Partners, the investment bank, is being lined up to handle a strategic review aimed at assessing the optimal timing for a disposal of TalkTalk’s remaining businesses.
PJT’s appointment is expected to be finalised shortly, City sources said this weekend.
Founded by Sir Charles Dunstone, the entrepreneur who also helped establish The Carphone Warehouse, TalkTalk has 3.2 million residential broadband customers across the UK.
That scale makes it one of the largest broadband suppliers in the country, and means that Ofcom, the telecoms industry regulator, will maintain a close eye on the company’s plans.
The break-up is expected to take some time to complete, and will involve the separate sales of TalkTalk’s consumer operations, and PlatformX, its wholesale and network division.
Within the latter unit, TalkTalk’s ethernet subsidiary could also be sold on a standalone basis, according to insiders.
TalkTalk, which has been grappling with a heavily indebted balance sheet for some time, secured a significant boost during the summer when it agreed a £120m capital injection.
The bulk of those funds came from Ares Management, an existing lender to and shareholder in the company.
That new funding followed a £1.2bn refinancing completed late last year, but which failed to prevent bondholders pushing for further moves to strengthen its balance sheet.
Over the last year, TalkTalk has slashed hundreds of jobs in an attempt to exert a tighter grip on costs.
It also raised £50m from two disposals in March and June, comprising the sale of non-core customers to Utility Warehouse.
In addition, there was also an in-principle agreement to defer cash interest payments and to capitalise those worth approximately £60m.
The company’s business arm is separately owned by TalkTalk’s shareholders, following a deal struck in 2023.
TalkTalk was taken private from the London Stock Exchange in a £1.1bn deal led by sister companies Toscafund and Penta Capital.
Sir Charles, the group’s executive chairman, is also a shareholder.
The company is now run by chief executive James Smith.
The identity of suitors for TalkTalk’s remaining operations was unclear this weekend, although a number of other telecoms companies are expected to look at the consumer business.
Britain’s altnet sector, which comprises dozens of broadband infrastructure groups, has been struggling financially because of soaring costs and low customer take-up.
On Saturday, a TalkTalk spokesman declined to comment.
Content Source: news.sky.com