Phoenix Copper Share Discussion Threads

[vivgav] 13/7/2007 07:53

wonder if BT will now make a late move?

[stevi1111] 13/7/2007 07:44

ITS COMING HOME TO DADDY :)))))

Pipex Communications Tiscali temporarily suspended pending announcement - bourse


MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Tiscali SpA shares have been temporarily
suspended pending an announcement, Milan stock market operator Borsa Italiana
said.
Press reports today said Italian internet service provider Tiscali is poised
to acquire the broadband and voice assets of Pipex Communications, the UK
telecoms group, for about 210 mln stg.

[barryrog] 13/7/2007 07:43

so thats worth 8.58p per share. (£210 mill of the current capitalisation of £318 mill).
that leaves hosting/domains plus Wimax licence £107 mill i.e. 4.5p per share?

[stevi1111] 13/7/2007 07:32

I bl££dy well wish I did Rover !! :)

[stevi1111] 13/7/2007 07:30

Nah Rover.....Your way off the mark here.

A £210m bid just for the broadband / voice asset side of the business equates to approx £210 per customer.

That is a really good price and is approximately the same price per customer as what BT paid for Plusnet.

Guess you've missed the boat here then..lol

[roverisback] 13/7/2007 07:27

stevi..i've never known you bullish on a stock...did u get your end away last night?

[roverisback] 13/7/2007 07:26

maybe the £210m bid is false info and its £400m...so the city insiders can pile in first thing

[stevi1111] 13/7/2007 07:25

Rover....You prize berk.

That price is an excellent price.

Dubens & co will then take the web hosting business private leaving shareholders with a nice pay off.

Then Pipex will be Wimax !

Great stuff - 14p today.

[ukrec] 13/7/2007 07:24

Tiscali temporarily suspended pending an announcement

[propane] 13/7/2007 07:21

Would this be a 'done' deal?........ or could we see a bidding war if Virgin or BT return to the table?

[troys] 13/7/2007 07:15

Roverisback some monkey will take them up. LOL

[roverisback] 13/7/2007 07:13

yes but what is the rest worth now they've sold the broadband side...peanuts?

[troys] 13/7/2007 07:10

Yes howling. We are all doomed. LOL

[howling] 13/7/2007 07:09

Friday the 13th
WE ARE ALL DOOMED
DOOMED
DOOMED

[troys] 13/7/2007 07:03

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Tiscali SPA, the Italian internet service provider, is poised to acquire the broadband and voice assets of Pipex Communications, the UK telecoms group, for about 210 mln stg, newspapers reported.

The sale is part of a strategic review Pipex embarked on in March and the announcement of the asset disposal could come today, according to the Financial Times and The Times newspapers.

Pipex attracted interest from many of its broadband rivals, including BT, British Sky Broadcasting and Virgin Media, before most bidders dropped out of the auction, the FT said.

Hopes for a deal were reignited in May when Massimo Cristofori, Tiscali's chief financial officer, admitted his company was at a 'very preliminary stage' in exploring a Pipex deal, the FT added.

[joesmoke] 13/7/2007 01:03

predictions for end of play Friday?

[psonice] 13/7/2007 00:24

It's going to be a much more interesting play I reckon - the solid and profitable hosting/domains/etc business, and the risky, high-cost, high-stakes wimax.

[zimzoot] 13/7/2007 00:22

The Ace in the pack is....WiMax ;)

[joesmoke] 13/7/2007 00:21

hope so.....should be a nice start to the weekend

[roverisback] 13/7/2007 00:21

might just break even

[psonice] 13/7/2007 00:17

Great stuff zimzoot! So a total valuation of £390m odd - we should see a bit of a rise I reckon.

[zimzoot] 13/7/2007 00:06

The Times

July 13, 2007

Pipex poised for £210m broadband sale to Tiscali

Elizabeth Judge, Telecoms Correspondent


Pipex, Britain's fifth biggest internet service provider, is close to a £210 million deal to sell its broadband base to Tiscali.

The internet group is expected to announce today that it has reached an agreement to sell off Pipex's one million consumer and small business customers to its Italian rival.

Pipex, chaired by millionaire Peter Dubens, had hoped to sell off its entire business. It had put a price on the whole group of around £400 million. As well as offering broadband services to consumers and small businesses, Pipex, whose brands include Freedom2surf and Toucan, provides internet hosting services. It also has a Wi-Max venture with Intel.

It is understood that prospective buyers for the Pipex group were deterred by the difficulty and cost of integrating Pipex's broadband customers into their own businesses.

Pipex has been built up through a series of acquisitions over several years. The sale of the business, which had been eyed by several players including BT, marks the end of one of Britain's last independent broadband customer bases.

A rush to grab market share in high-speed internet has already seen a slew of tie-ups in the sector. Last year the UK arm of AOL was snapped up for £370 million by Carphone Warehouse. The satellite broadcaster BSkyB secured the broadband provider EasyNet in a £211 million deal in 2005. The cable firm Virgin Media is currently being stalked by the private equity group Carlyle.

Pipex's move to exit now is thought to have been triggered in part by its unwillingness to keep up with the big- name brands crowding the high street and their "free" broadband offers by ploughing money into advertising and marketing.

Tiscali, which has itself been regarded as a potential target, has insisted that it is not for sale.

After merging with HomeChoice, the video-on-demand service, last year, it is determined to forge ahead in competition with players like Virgin Media and BT.

[zimzoot] 13/7/2007 00:02

FT

Tiscali set to acquire Pipex assets

By Philip Stafford

Published: July 12 2007 23:18 | Last updated: July 12 2007 23:18

Tiscali, the Italian internet service provider, is poised to acquire the broadband and voice assets of Pipex Communications, the UK telecoms group, for about £210m.

The sale is part of a strategic review Pipex embarked on in March and the announcement of the asset disposal could come on Friday.

Pipex attracted interest from many of its broadband rivals, including BT, British Sky Broadcasting and Virgin Media, before most bidders dropped out of the auction.

Hopes for a deal were reignited in May when Massimo Cristofori, Tiscali's chief financial officer, admitted his company was at a "very preliminary stage" in exploring a Pipex deal.

Tiscali has about 1.4m broadband customers in the UK, but some analysts have argued it will have to increase its size if it is to survive in the competitive high-speed internet access market, which is rapidly merging with voice services.

This week BSkyB showed it was quickly capturing market share in the broadband and telephony market, reporting a 56 per cent jump in broadband customers, to 716,000, in the last quarter.

Pipex has more than 1m customers in its broadband and voice division, of whom about 570,000 are broadband customers. The sale of the broadband and phone assets will leave it holding other telecom assets including data hosting, domain name registration and a licence for a nascent wireless voice and data transfer technology known as Wi-max.

Pipex has been putting strong emphasis on Wi-max in recent months, having signed deals with Intel and Nokia Siemens Networks and running trials in Milton Keynes and Warwick to develop the service.

A research note from Goldman Sachs analysts in May valued the hosting and network services at £178m.

The Tiscali sale marks another major deal for Peter Dubens, the Pipex chairman, after he agreed to sell 365 Media, the sports news and betting websites, to BSkyB for £96m in December.

Pipex shares firmed ¼p to 13¼p on Thursday, valuing the group at £318m.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

[troys] 12/7/2007 21:19

Technology to boost smart meters, says report
12/07/2007

Innovations in software and technology are set to drive growth of the market for smart meters over the next five years, according to a new report.

The study by research firm Datamonitor, published today, predicts that the use of smart meters in the energy and utilities sector to conserve power will grow to 41 per cent in Europe by 2012.

Smart meters are capable of performing functions beyond simple energy measurement, including the time of use, tariffs, possible tampering and outage detection, the report states.

New software has been developed to process this data, while innovations such as Wi-Fi and Wi-Max are aiding the transfer of information to utility organisations.

'Smart metering is here to stay and is going to grow rapidly,' commented Alex Kwiatkowski, lead analyst for Datamonitor's vertical market technology team.

'There will certainly be a key role for technology vendors to demonstrate how they can facilitate smart metering and deliver the benefits it provides,' he added.

The government has today announced plans to rollout a £20 million trial of smart meters to help save energy in 15,000 UK homes

[joesmoke] 12/7/2007 21:00

until then......cold showers all around kids..