According to The Guardian, Tiscali’s board prefers selling both its UK and Italian subsidiaries together rather than separately.
Vodafone, BSkyB and Orange have joined Carphone Warehouse and a number of Italian companies in the race to buy Tiscali, the telephone and internet service provider operating in Britain and Italy.
Following its acquisition of Italian ISP Tele2 last year, Vodafone undoubtedly confirmed its interest in the Italian fixed-line market. Likewise, the Big Red operator is also reportedly keen to expand its UK broadband business, which currently uses BT’s network for access.
Tiscali UK is Britain’s fourth-largest broadband provider with around 1.8 million customers. A deadline for initial non-binding offers is set for May 5. Analysts have placed a price tag of £550m-650m on Tiscali’s UK business but that is understood to be higher than many of the potential bidders would be willing to pay.
