JT and CVC Get UK Gov Approval to Acquire Manx Telecom on Isle of Man

The UK Government has given approval for Jersey linked telecoms operator JT Group and CVC DIF, the infrastructure strategy of global private markets manager CVC, to jointly proceed (under ‘Dunlop Bidco‘) with their proposed acquisition of broadband and mobile operator Manx Telecom (MT) – the primary network operator for the remote Isle of Man.

At present Manx Telecom is owned by Basalt Infrastructure Partners (BIP), which is also an investor in alternative UK network provider FullFibre Limited. But all that looks set to change after the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Darren Jones MP, granted approval for the aforementioned deal (said by some sources to be valued at around £500m).

Manx Telecom itself recently appears to have largely completed a major £60 million deployment of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based gigabit broadband lines to over 41,000 premises across the Isle of Man (here), which was partly funded by the Isle of Man Government.

The combined group will serve customers in the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and across the globe – creating the largest full-service telecoms provider across the Crown Dependencies. But the transaction will be subject to conditions, including that MT continues to fulfil certain services provided to the UK Government, that a Cyber Security Group within Manx Telecom is established and to appoint a senior executive to oversee the group.

Government (UK) Statement

Following a detailed national security assessment, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has made a final order pursuant to section 26 of the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (“the Act”), which comes into force on 22 April 2026.

The Parties who are subject to the order are:

i. Manx Telecom Trading Limited (‘Manx Telecom’); and

ii. Dunlop Bidco Limited (‘Dunlop Bidco’)

Together with any subsidiary, controlled entity or affiliate of any of them.

Dunlop Bidco will gain control of the qualifying entity by acquiring a 100% shareholding in Manx Telecom.

This acquisition constitutes a trigger event under section 8(2)(c) of the Act.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has allowed the transaction to proceed, subject to the condition that the Parties:

a. Ensure that, so long as it is subject to an agreed contract, Manx Telecom continues to fulfil certain services provided to the UK Government that are in support of UK national security;

b. Establish and maintain a Cyber Security Group within Manx Telecom which will perform certain obligations, including that it will carry out the activities Manx Telecom performs which have an impact on or is in respect of UK national security, and will maintain the cyber security posture of the company; and

c. Appoint a senior executive to oversee and perform certain obligations in respect of the Cyber Security Group.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster considers that the measures contained within the final order are necessary and proportionate to remedy, prevent or mitigate the risks to national security relating to:

i. Manx Telecom’s role as a critical supplier of services provided to UK Government departments which are in support of UK national security.

The new owner says the group has a shared commitment to “continue investing in resilient and secure, next-generation digital networks“, including fibre, IoT platforms, 5G and managed services to support customers’ use of those networks. CVC DIF’s investment also brings “additional capital” and sector expertise to support long-term growth, although no solid details were provided in their original announcement.