VodafoneThree has submitted an offer to buy TalkTalk’s consumer business in an effort to bolster its home broadband footprint.. As reported by the Financial Times, the UK telco has made a late attempt to buy TalkTalk’s consumer business after initially declining to participate in the process.. – VodafoneThree. The unit in question covers 1.75 million customers. VodafoneThree currently serves 1.83 million fixed customers in the UK.. However, the FT reports that VodafoneThree was one of several companies to submit second-round bids for struggling TalkTalk last week. Rival telco Virgin Media O2 was also interested, according to reports earlier this year.. New Street Research estimates TalkTalk’s consumer business could be worth between £200 million ($267m) and £300m ($401m).. TalkTalk is currently the fifth-largest broadband provider in the UK, behind BT Group, Sky, Virgin Media O2, and Vodafone.. A deal for Vodafone would support Vodafone’s aims of reaching four million broadband customers by the early 2030s.. It comes weeks after Vodafone announced last month that it will take full ownership of its UK joint venture VodafoneThree.. The company has struggled in recent years, however, shrinking to 1.75 million customers from 2.5 million in 2023. TalkTalk has also reduced its overall headcount by 20 percent, including the loss of 130 jobs at its Salford consumer division in December.. Last year, the company, founded by Sir Charles Dunstone, agreed a £120m ($165.7m) capital injection from an existing shareholder.. In 2021, Toscafund Asset Management, previously the second-largest shareholder in the company, completed a takeover of TalkTalk for £1.1bn ($1.49bn).. Two years later, the company split its business into three units: B2B Wholesale Platform, TalkTalk Consumer, and TalkTalk Business Direct, before TalkTalk sold the latter to TFP Telecoms Limited (TFP), a special purpose vehicle controlled by the main shareholders of TalkTalk Telecom Group Limited (TTG).. More in Investment / M&A / Financing. 26 Jan 2026. More in Carrier Networks. 22 Jan 2026. 10 Apr 2026. 19 Jan 2026
