UK Telecoms and Broadband ISP Daisy Group Ponders £1.5bn Sale

Reports claim that the Daisy Group, which supplies communication and broadband services to businesses across the UK, could shortly appoint investment bankers to manage a sale of the business. Under the plan it’s alleged that Daisy could auction itself off for £1.5bn during the first half of 2018.

According to Sky News, inside sources are hoping that Vodafone and Liberty Global (Virgin Media) could be among the interested parties in any future sale. The business went private in 2014 and there are said to be no plans for exploring another public flotation.

Today Daisy has around 60,000 customers, which includes a huge chunk of popular high street retailers, and they also employ approximately 4,000 staff. The insiders suggest that the business is on course to make earnings (EBITA) of around £150 million in the year to March 2019 (note: a year ago they spent £165m on a takeover of ‘Alternative Networks’ and that was funded partly through debt).

A Daisy Group Spokesperson said:

“We don’t comment on speculation. Daisy is a privately owned business and its management teams focus is solely on continuing to build on its position as the United Kingdom’s largest independent provider of business communications, IT and cloud services.”

We’ve heard rumours of a sale before, although so far they have all come to nothing, but the current situation suggests that Daisy might well be willing to pass the mantle on to somebody else. Assuming somebody can be found who would value the business just as highly as Daisy itself currently does.