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With ID Mobile? Might be for sale soon
From The Times
Copy paste due to paywall.
Quote
Top Currys shareholder urges sale of mobile phones armIn wake of failed bids for the retailer, leading investor JO Hambro tells it to sell ID Mobile, which is valued at about £350m
Currys is facing pressure from a leading shareholder to sell its mobile phones division in the aftermath of two failed takeover bids for the retailer.
Fund manager JO Hambro is urging it to sell ID Mobile, a subsidiary that sells monthly phone contracts and is valued at about £350 million.
Hambro is the eighth- largest shareholder in Currys, holding a 4.5 per cent stake worth about £32 million.
Last month, US investor Elliott walked away from an attempt to take Currys private after its second offer, valuing the retailer at £757 million, was rebuffed. JD.com, a Chinese retailer, had also been mulling a bid but abandoned its takeover attempt soon after Elliott.
Hambro was among shareholders that urged the firm, which employs 28,000 people across 820 shops in eight countries, to hold out for at least £1 billion.
In a letter to its investors last week, Hambro said it had upped its stake since the suitors went away. But it added: “The pressure will now be on the board to realise shareholder value, where our favoured option would remain the sale of ID Mobile.” It pointed out that one of the reasons the Currys bids had failed was that some investors “were very clear on the minimum acceptable value for this business”.
Currys’ share price ended last week about 30 per cent higher than it was on the eve of Elliott’s first offer. In January, Currys, led by chief executive Alex Baldock, reported a fall in sales for the Christmas period but upgraded its profit outlook due to cost-cutting measures.
The company was formed by the 2014 merger of the Dixons group with Carphone Warehouse. ID Mobile was launched by the Carphone Warehouse side of the group in 2015 to offer plans to pay for handsets made by the likes of Samsung and Apple. It uses the Three mobile network and does not let users purchase a handset without also using its plans. In November, it surpassed 1.5 million subscribers for its services.
Currys declined to comment
Copy paste due to paywall.
Quote
Top Currys shareholder urges sale of mobile phones armIn wake of failed bids for the retailer, leading investor JO Hambro tells it to sell ID Mobile, which is valued at about £350m
Currys is facing pressure from a leading shareholder to sell its mobile phones division in the aftermath of two failed takeover bids for the retailer.
Fund manager JO Hambro is urging it to sell ID Mobile, a subsidiary that sells monthly phone contracts and is valued at about £350 million.
Hambro is the eighth- largest shareholder in Currys, holding a 4.5 per cent stake worth about £32 million.
Last month, US investor Elliott walked away from an attempt to take Currys private after its second offer, valuing the retailer at £757 million, was rebuffed. JD.com, a Chinese retailer, had also been mulling a bid but abandoned its takeover attempt soon after Elliott.
Hambro was among shareholders that urged the firm, which employs 28,000 people across 820 shops in eight countries, to hold out for at least £1 billion.
In a letter to its investors last week, Hambro said it had upped its stake since the suitors went away. But it added: “The pressure will now be on the board to realise shareholder value, where our favoured option would remain the sale of ID Mobile.” It pointed out that one of the reasons the Currys bids had failed was that some investors “were very clear on the minimum acceptable value for this business”.
Currys’ share price ended last week about 30 per cent higher than it was on the eve of Elliott’s first offer. In January, Currys, led by chief executive Alex Baldock, reported a fall in sales for the Christmas period but upgraded its profit outlook due to cost-cutting measures.
The company was formed by the 2014 merger of the Dixons group with Carphone Warehouse. ID Mobile was launched by the Carphone Warehouse side of the group in 2015 to offer plans to pay for handsets made by the likes of Samsung and Apple. It uses the Three mobile network and does not let users purchase a handset without also using its plans. In November, it surpassed 1.5 million subscribers for its services.
Currys declined to comment
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