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Broadband, phone and mobile operator Manx Telecom (MT), which is the primary network operator serving premises across the remote Isle of Man, could be sold to CVC Capital Partners “within a matter of weeks” as part of a proposed £500m takeover offer that is currently said to be the focus of ongoing talks.
According to a report on Sky News, CVC is being lined up to help finance the takeover by JT Group, which also owns Jersey Telecom that originated on the English Channel island of the same name (JT is owned by Jersey’s government). Manx Telecom itself is currently owned by Basalt Infrastructure Partners (BIP), which is also an investor in alternative UK network provider FullFibre Limited.
Manx Telecom itself is currently in the process of completing a major £60m roll-out of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based gigabit broadband lines to over 41,000 premises across the Isle of Man by the end of 2025 (here), which has been partly funded by the Isle of Man Government.
At this stage not much is known about the details of the proposed deal and some may also question whether the operator is even worth £500m, although back in 2019 they were valued at approximately £255.9m during the deal with Basalt. Smaller island networks often enjoy more control over their local markets and do tend to attract greater values than those operating in larger and more competitive markets, such as the UK.
All of those involved in the talks have thus far declined to comment.