CVC Capital backs £500m Jersey bid for Manx Telecom
An infrastructure investor owned by the private equity giant CVC Capital Partners is in talks to back a £500m takeover of Manx Telecom in a deal that unites the Crown Dependencies' communications providers.
Sky News has learnt that CVC DIF is being lined up to help finance a takeover of Manx Telecom by JT Group, which owns Jersey Telecom.
A deal could be agreed within a matter of weeks, according to telecoms industry sources.
CVC DIF's involvement in the prospective deal comes seven months after JT Group was reported to have held an earlier set of talks aimed at taking control of Manx Telecom.
The Isle of Man's principal telecoms and broadband service provider is owned by Basalt Infrastructure Partners following a deal struck in 2019.
Founded in 1888, Jersey Telecom is owned by the island's government.
It claims to have been the world's first telecoms company to offer 100% fibre-to-the-home and businesses for every broadband user.
The precise details of its financing partnership with CVC DIF were unclear on Wednesday.
A spokesman for CVC, whose private equity investments include Six Nations rugby and the insurance company Domestic & General, declined to comment.
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