Shell Set To Complete Post Office Broadband Arm Takeover
Following talks over the weekend, multinational energy provider, Shell, are close to securing a deal to take over the Post Office’s broadband operations. This acquisition will push Shell deeper into the UK telecoms industry.
The negotiations between Shell and the Post Office have been ongoing for almost 2 months, with TalkTalk and Sky also showing interest in a deal.
It is reported that the deal is worth close to £80million but will in return add almost 500,000 customers to Shell’s existing 130,000.
Whilst the takeover will allow Shell to branch further into the telecoms market, it will also allow the Post Office to shift all of its focus back into their core operations: mail, deliveries and banking.
Back in 2018, Shell emerged into the broadband market after acquiring First Utility, which they later rebranded to Shell Energy Retail. The takeover gave Shell the opporunity to manaouver into the clean power business. This deal cost Shell $200million in exchange for a staggering 825,000 customers.
With much investment, it is clear that Shell has the intention to heavily compete in the UK telecoms industry. It is reported that political changes, affecting the traditional energy industries, are pushing energy companies, such as Shell, to enter new markets.
Furthermore, it is not just the broadband industry that Shell are looking to expand into. Just recently, Shell announced that they had acquired the UK’s largest electric vehicle-charging network, Ubitricity, for an undisclosed fee.
Perhaps this business venture was impacted by one of Shell’s major rivals, BP. In 2018, BP completed the purchase of Chargemaster, the UK’s largest electric vehicle charging company.
It seems to be becoming a common occurrence that major energy companies are looking to make advancements into outside markets, particularly the telecoms industry. Perhaps, this means that we will continue to see major takeovers involving energy companies and major UK broadband suppliers over the next few years. h