BT acquires struggling telecoms rival TalkTalk for £400m

BT has acquired the consumer and wholesale operations of struggling UK rival TalkTalk for roughly £400 million. CEO Allison Kirkby stated that the immediate priority is to stabilize the business and provide uninterrupted services to TalkTalk's 2.5 million customers. The company's wholesale unit, PXC, has around 1 million customers including the British Ministry of Defence.

TalkTalk's retail customer base, which had dwindled from around 4 million in 2019 to roughly 1.5 million this year, is now under BT's control. The 2003-founded business has struggled to compete with bigger rivals in recent years, resulting in losses and a revenue of around £1.2 billion in 2021. TalkTalk was taken private in a £1.1 billion acquisition in 2021 and has faced attempts to sell the failing business for months.

BT expects the UK government to conduct a regulatory review of the transaction, and stabilization efforts will be led by Clive Selley.