The Caudwell Group announces today that it has completed the sale agreement with Doughty Hanson & Co and Providence Equity Partners, under which the private equity firms have acquired the entire Group for a total consideration of £1.46 billion.
Under the terms of the acquisition, Doughty Hanson will retain the 20:20 Logistics Distribution Group, to be renamed the 2020 Mobile Group, and Providence Equity Partners will acquire the Phones4U Group.
The deal was cleared under the EU's 'simplified' merger review procedure; cases which the EU executive believes do not pose competition concerns.
Commenting on the sale completion John Caudwell said “I am leaving two businesses that are in excellent shape for the future – the strong management teams that are in place and the financial strength of both businesses will no doubt be excellent platforms for their planned growth.”
“I would like to thank all 8,500 staff who have worked so hard to grow the business with me and I wish them all the best for the future. I am now going to spend more time fulfilling personal ambitions, more time with my family and more time working with my charity. However, I also have a number of investment and commercial plans in the pipeline, which will allow me to maintain some interests in the business world”
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