Telecel bids £450m for TalkTalk wholesale arm
Pan-African telecom group Telecel has entered the auction for TalkTalk’s wholesale network, offering up to £450 million in a deal that would mark a rare reversal of emerging-market capital flowing into UK infrastructure.
Telecel Group has submitted a bid of up to £450 million for PlatformX Communications, the wholesale telecom arm of UK broadband provider TalkTalk. The pan-African operator, led by chief executive Moh Damush, is attempting one of the largest cross-border acquisitions ever by an African-headquartered telecom group. TalkTalk has not publicly commented on the identity of the bidders.
PXC operates a Tier 1 national network reaching roughly 98 percent of UK premises and serves about 2.75 million customers. For the financial year ending in March 2025, the unit generated revenue of £1.169 billion and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of £296 million. Wholesale platforms are highly attractive to investors because they collect recurring rents from retail operators rather than bearing the direct costs of consumer acquisition.
TalkTalk is selling the unit to address a heavily strained balance sheet carrying more than £2.6 billion in debt. The group recently relied on emergency funding led by Ares Management after splitting into three businesses during a 2023 demerger. Investment bank PJT Partners is managing the auction, with TalkTalk also seeking a buyer for its consumer division, which has drawn interest from parties including VodafoneThree.
Telecel faces well-capitalized domestic competition for the asset. Private equity firm Epiris has partnered with PXC executive chairman Tom O'Hagan on a management buyout, while investment group Octopus has also been linked to the process. The £450 million valuation aligns with a failed 2024 attempt by Australia’s Macquarie to buy a 40 percent stake for a similar price, suggesting the asset's underlying value has held firm despite the seller's financial distress.
A successful bid would mark a significant strategic shift for Telecel, moving away from its core African mobile markets into a mature, contested European infrastructure play. The group, which recently acquired Vodafone's Ghana business and is preparing for a 5G licence auction there, would need to prove it can finance and integrate a large overseas asset. The deal also faces considerable regulatory hurdles, including scrutiny under Britain’s investment-screening rules for nationally significant network infrastructure and negotiations with TalkTalk’s lenders.
