According to the Telegraph, should the acquisition proceed, the merged entity would control roughly 36% of the market, strengthening BT’s Plusnet brand, which competes directly with TalkTalk.
Meanwhile, Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has also previously considered a move to acquire TalkTalk, aiming to expand its wholesale broadband operations.
This comes as TalkTalk’s founder, Sir Charles Dunstone, along with other investors, has injected £235 million into the business in an effort to avoid insolvency, however, despite this, the company still carries £1.2 billion in debt.
Over the past year, TalkTalk lost 400,000 customers and was ranked lowest in Ofcom’s most recent customer service report, resulting in BT’s Openreach arm, which provides infrastructure for most of TalkTalk’s customers, reporting a loss of nearly 250,000 broadband users during the first quarter of the year.
Last year, it was reported that Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) was back in negotiations with TalkTalk over a potential deal to take over its consumer decision.
Sky News sources indicated that Macquarie was proposing to invest £450 million into PlatformX – the name given to TalkTalk’s wholesale platform in exchange for a 40% stake in the business.
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