Phone firm sold in €2bn deal

PHONES4U owner Caudwell Group will be sold to two private equity firms in a deal worth £1.46 billion (€2.16bn), it was confirmed yesterday.

Mobile phone tycoon John Caudwell put the company up for sale in November so he could fulfil his ambition of sailing around the world.

And it has emerged private equity firms Doughty Hanson & Co and Providence Equity Partners have agreed a deal for the group.

As part of the move Doughty Hanson will retain the Crewe-based 20:20 Logistics Distribution Group, which will be renamed the 20-20 Mobile Group.

Meanwhile, Providence will acquire the Phones4U arm, which boasts 325 stores across Britain. The deal is expected to be rubber-stamped in September.

Mr Caudwell, who had an 85% stake in the business, is set to net £1bn (€1.48bn) as part of the deal.

The sale process has attracted interest from a large number of high quality bidders and I believe that we have achieved a fair price for the business,” he said.

“Selling the business will allow me to spend more time fulfilling personal ambitions, more time with my family and more time working with my charity.

“However, I also have a number of investment and commercial plans in the pipeline, which will allow me to maintain some interests in the business world.”

A spokesman for the Stoke-based group said a private equity bid had been favoured, rather than a trade sale so the company could continue to grow and jobs would be protected.

Mr Caudwell set up the firm with his brother in 1987.

The company took eight months to sell its first order of 26 phones, but now sells about 26 phones every minute and employs 8,000 people. In the year to December 31, group sales were £2.12bn (€3.14bn), while earnings before tax, interest and goodwill were £149m (€220.85m).