BT Group agrees £400 million TalkTalk business acquisition

TL;DR: BT Group agreed to acquire TalkTalk’s consumer and wholesale businesses out of administration in a deal with a £400 million cash impact in BT’s current financial year, which runs to 31 March 2027. The transaction would add 1.5 million retail customers and 1 million wholesale customers in the UK, and it is subject to antitrust review.

BT Group agreed to acquire TalkTalk’s consumer and wholesale businesses out of administration, with the deal carrying a total cash impact of £400 million in BT’s current financial year ending 31 March 2027.

BT said it intervened after TalkTalk’s sales process for its operations failed and after identifying risks to UK connectivity, including impacts on vulnerable customers and key public services if the company collapsed.

The acquisition would add 1.5 million retail customers and 1 million wholesale customers across the UK to BT. BT said TalkTalk generated £1.2 billion in revenue in the last 12 months and was loss-making over that period.

The deal faces antitrust review because BT owns Openreach, a UK broadband company that competes with TalkTalk. The UK government issued a Public Interest Interventions Notice, and the Competition and Markets Authority is due to report its findings to the government by 19 October.