This week, VMO2 reignites dialogue with TalkTalk over the potential purchase of its consumer business, an update by The Telegraph revealed. If the acquisition were successful, around four million of TalkTalk’s UK broadband subscribers would swell the ranks of VMO2’s customer base. Nevertheless, it’s noteworthy to mention that this negotiation is still in the preliminary phases, and no formal agreement has been reached.
VMO2’s interest in TalkTalk isn’t a recent development. In fact, there have been several attempts to acquire the company over the years. One of the standout points in this sequence was back in 2022, when a hefty £3 billion takeover bid by VMO2 was unfortunately curtailed due to unfavorable regulatory and macroeconomic climates.
Of late, TalkTalk has grappled with a considerable £1.1 billion debt. This led the company to announce a plan to fragment its business into three independent entities with a focus on consumer broadband, small businesses, and wholesale, in September of the last year. To date, the company has sold its Business Direct cabal to its shareholders for £95 million, and separate negotiations for the wholesale unit with the Digital Bridge infrastructure fund are reported to be ongoing.
Alongside the acquisition news, VMO2 revealed a recent partnership with Hiya, an AI-driven technology company. The collaboration centres around the use of Hiya’s scam call blocking technology, Hiya Protect, which leverages Adaptive AI to analyze call number behaviour and effectively block nuisance and fraudulent calls for customers. A fact worth noting is that EE is also engaged with Hiya for the use of this innovation.
