Pipex will retain its corporate broadband customers. Web hosting, business services, and Pipex Wireless WiMAX businesses will remain within the Pipex Group.
The subsidiaries being sold to Tiscali are: Switch2 Telecoms Limited, Pipex Homecall Limited, Toucan Residential Limited, Pipex Internet Limited, and Toucan Residential Ireland Limited.
The broadband and voice division reported revenue of 231.7m pounds ($470m) and profit before tax of 13.9m pounds (28.2m) in 2006. It has 570,000 broadband customers and 480,000 voice customers.
Cagliari, Italy-based Tiscali has sold many of its overseas interests to concentrate on Italy and the UK, where it has more than 1.3 million broadband customers.
Pipex, which will need shareholder approval for the deal, emphasized the substantial nature of its retained operations. It said that its hosting operations had achieved growth in active services of more than 24% and it is one of the two largest hosting providers in Europe. Pipex’s domain name business now covers 2 million domains.
It said Pipex Business Services, the SME and corporate unit, had seen good growth in the high end hosting, leased line and IPVPN sectors,.
Pipex’s WiMAX business, due to be launched later this year with a plan for services across the UK, has been developed with partnerships with Intel, Ericsson, and Nokia.
