BT has emerged as a potential bidder for the UK assets of Tiscali, the Italian telco which last year acquired Video Networks’ Homechoice business. The Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore says that BT has begun talks with investment bank Merrill Lynch to discuss the acquisition. Homechoice has around 46,000 subscribers in London and Hertfordshire and is currently the only major competitor to the BT Vision IPTV platform.
Tiscali maintains that its UK operations are not for sale. The worth of the UK business is said to represent €700 million of Tiscali’s €1.1 billion capitalisation.
One possibility is that with the UK business spun off, Tiscali would then be in a position to propose a merger with the Italian broadband operator Fastweb.
Leave a Reply