Broadband News

Pipex for Sale?

(11-03-07) - Pipex Communications, the home phone and internet provider, has hired UBS to sell the company, according to reports. According to this weekend’s Sunday Express, Pipex chairman Peter Dubens is hoping to sell the firm for an equivalent of between 16 and 22 pence per share.

Pipex, which offers business and residential broadband at up to 8Mbps, has so far refused to comment on the report. Pipex Communications is part of the Pipex Group, which also includes Freedom2Surf, 123-reg, WebFusion and Pipex Network Services.

By the end of 2006, Pipex had 570,000 broadband customers and its revenues had risen by 122% over the course of the year. This success can be largely attributed to a successful marketing campaign fronted by Baywatch star David Hasselhoff.

BroadbandChoices.co.uk believes that Pipex is likely to be sold off to a larger communications company and added to its stable of firms, in much the same way as Pipex itself acquired Toucan and Bulldog recently.

Chris Eagle, Commercial Manager at Broadband Choices, says: “Further convergence of broadband suppliers in the UK marketplace might be good for the companies involved, but it’s not good for the consumer. There are fewer and fewer ISPs to choose from: competition is decreasing, so ISPs are able to get away with worse and worse services. It still looks like there’s a choice between suppliers because they continue to use the old brand names - but consumers don’t realise that they’re all run by the same people.”