Thus gatecrashes Energis deal

Business telecoms group Thus squared up to rival Cable & Wireless today with a proposed bid worth £800m (€1.2bn) for counterpart Energis.

The Glasgow-based telecoms carrier revealed its interest on the day of a deadline set by C&W for Energis debtholders to back its proposal, which has the support of the Energis board and thought to be worth around £780m (€1.1bn).

A deal involving Thus and Energis would bring together two of the UK’s biggest firms for business communications services, while saving Energis the cost of updating its network as Thus has already completed its upgrade.

Thus revealed it submitted its proposal to the board of Chelys, the company that owns Energis, on July 27, but was told a few days later that its target was in exclusive talks with another party.

Privately-owned Energis, which offers products and services ranging from contact centres to data, voice and internet, has worked for corporate customers including the BBC, Thomas Cook, Wanadoo and Tesco.

It employs about 1,550 people, including at offices in London, Reading, Leeds and Dublin.