BT has reached an agreement to sell its Irish wholesale and enterprise business unit to Speed Fibre Group, with the transaction expected to close later this year, pending competition approval.
The sale includes BT’s domestic network infrastructure, over 400 customers, and the teams supporting wholesale and business enterprises. However, it excludes the customer base for multinational companies, large Irish organisations, the Emergency Call Answering Service, certain employees, and the recently divested data centre business, all subject to regulatory approval.
In addition to the sale, BT and Speed Fibre Group have entered into a long-term agreement to source connectivity for each other’s customers. The enterprise value of the agreement, including the acquisition of BTCIL’s share capital, is €22 million.
Speed Fibre Group, which owns Enet and Magnet+, is part of Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited. This acquisition will allow Speed Fibre Group to expand its presence in Ireland’s wholesale and business-to-business connectivity markets, while enhancing its ability to offer advanced connectivity solutions by integrating BTCIL’s capabilities and its domestic customer base.
Peter McCarthy, CEO of Speed Fibre Group, expressed excitement about the acquisition, stating, “This is an important milestone for us, enabling us to provide even greater value to our customers and expand our range of connectivity solutions. It’s a positive step for the Irish market, offering us the scale to better serve our growing customer base.”
Bas Burger, CEO of BT’s Business Division, said, “This move is a key part of our ongoing transformation, as we focus on providing secure multi-cloud connectivity to large organisations. BTCIL’s wholesale and enterprise business will thrive under Speed Fibre Group, and we look forward to working together as future partners in Ireland.”
While BT is selling part of its operations, it will maintain a strong presence in Ireland with over 400 employees across Dublin and regional offices, continuing to connect to its global network infrastructure and offerings for customers.
