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The company is scrambling to revive its financial health ahead of its looming debt repayments
Along with its other shareholders, Talk Talk’s founder Sir Charles Dunstone is set to inject over £180 million into the company as struggles under the weight of a debt pile exceeding £1 billion.
According to an article from the Telegraph, the company’s lenders are putting pressure on the main shareholders to reduce its revolving credit facility from £330 million to £150 ahead of its refinancing in November, which would require a cash injection of £180 million. The article confirms that talks between the two sides are ongoing.
The company has 3.8 million broadband customers, making it the fourth largest provider in the UK.
It has been battling debts for some time, with the total currently sitting around £1.1 billion.
In September last year, the company announced plans to break up the business into three standalone companies, focussing on wholesale, consumer broadband, and small businesses, respectively. This, the company said, would allow for a more efficient sale process and allow it to meet its debt obligations.
The following month, TalkTalk confirmed the sale of its business unit back to a group of its own shareholders for £95 million under a special purpose vehicle called TFP Telecoms.
By February, another Telegraph report was suggesting that Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) was in discussion with TalkTalk to acquire its separated consumer division, although no sale has been agreed so far.
VMO2 have attempted to acquire TalkTalk on multiple occasions, most notably for £3 billion in 2022, which was eventually scrapped due to unfavourable regulatory and economic conditions.
Time is running out for TalkTalk to bolster its finances. The company is due to repay £685 million in bonds in February. In its 2023 financial report published in December, it warned that failure to meet this would “cast significant doubt” over the company’s future.
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