TalkTalk kicks off talks over sale of consumer, wholesale units - report

(Sharecast News) - TalkTalk has reportedly kicked off discussions with prospective bidders for divisions including one of Britain's biggest consumer internet providers. According to Sky News, TalkTalk - which supplies landline and broadband services to about 1.7m UK customers - has begun discussions with potential buyers in the last few days. The initiation of talks comes about four months after the privately owned company appointed bankers to oversee a sale.

Industry sources told Sky the likes of Vodafone and Virgin Media O2 were among those expected to explore bids for parts of the group, which was founded by The Carphone Warehouse billionaire Sir Charles Dunstone.

In addition to its consumer division, the PlatformX Communications (PXC) wholesale and network unit of TalkTalk is also for sale. Within the latter unit, TalkTalk's ethernet subsidiary could also be sold on a standalone basis.

TalkTalk, which has been grappling with a heavily indebted balance sheet for some time, secured a significant boost last 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 in 2024, but which failed to prevent bondholders pushing for further moves to strengthen its balance sheet.

TalkTalk was taken private from the London Stock Exchange in a £1.1bn deal led by Toscafund and Penta Capital.