O2 UK CEO considers management buyout - report

News Wireless United Kingdom 16 MEI 2016
O2 UK CEO considers management buyout - report

O2 UK CEO Ronan Dunne is considering a GBP 8.5 billion management buy-out of the company after EU regulators blocked the sale of the company to 3 UK parent Hutchison, reports the Daily Telegraph. He is understood to have been approached by potential private equity sponsors to carry out a debt-driven buyout. Sources indicate that O2 executives are now evaluating whether it would be financially feasible for Dunne to take the company independent.

The talks are in their early stages and are understood not to include O2 parent Telefonica, which remains tied to an exclusivity agreement with Hutchison until end-June, unless they agree to abandon their agreement earlier. Investment bankers have estimated O2's valuation in a leveraged buyout at GBP 8.5 billion, compared to the GBP 10.25 billion Hutchison was prepared to pay. One consortium interested in buying O2 is led by Tom Alexander, former CEO of Orange UK, and includes private equity firms CVC Capital Partners and Apax.

Categories:

Mobile

Companies:

3 UK,  O2 UK,  Telefonica

Countries:

United Kingdom

Tags:

Voice services, Data services, Messaging, Company, Services, Corporate, M&A buyouts & divestments

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