BT Group’s acquisition of TalkTalk will lead to almost all of the UK telco’s £1.5bn debt being written off, according to 9fin sources.
Under the current deal, TalkTalk’s largest lender and minority shareholder Ares will be paid £100m and KKR, who provided a £60m securitisation facility secured on its receivables, will be repaid in full, sources said. Ares has plugged several liquidity gaps for the company since 2024 with a total exposure of over £500m.
The remaining debt in TalkTalk’s £1.5bn capital structure will be written off, the sources said.
Sona Asset Management, Cheyne Capital, and Polus Capital have been invested in the bonds since the 2024 restructuring, as 9fin reported.
BT’s proposal will lead to a £400m cash impact to the company, which includes consideration, transaction and administration costs, working capital impacts as well as a trading loss for the balance of this fiscal year of around £60m and non-receipt of around £100m owed to its subsidiary Openreach.
The BT deal puts an end to a year-long sale process for TalkTalk Telecommunications Limited and PlatformX Communications Limited (PXC), wherein the company rejected several offers from bidders. BT is taking over the business through...
