Latest news with #MatthewRiley
Times
13-05-2025
- Business
- Times
VMO2 to merge enterprise operations with Daisy Group
The operator of O2 and Virgin Media will merge its enterprise operations with a smaller rival in an effort to create a challenger to BT and Vodafone. The deal between VMO2 and Daisy Group, a telecommunications company founded by Matthew Riley, will create a business with a combined revenue of £1.4 billion and adjusted earnings of £150 million. VMO2, a joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica in the UK, will take a 70 per cent share of the new company. Daisy shareholders, the largest of which is Riley, will have the remaining 30 per cent. Lutz Schüler, chief executive of VMO2, said the combination would bring together its scale in the fixed broadband and mobile markets with Daisy's 'state of the art' IT
The Independent
12-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Virgin Media O2 strikes tie-up with Daisy to form £1.4bn business telecoms giant
Virgin Media O2 has agreed a merger deal of its business customer operation with Daisy Group in a tie-up that will create a 'powerhouse' telecoms company with around £1.4 billion in sales. The combined group will be majority owned by Virgin Media O2, which will hold a 70% stake, with Daisy owning the remaining 30%. The new firm – which is as yet unnamed – will be led by Virgin Media O2 Business managing director Jo Bertram, who will become chief executive of the newly merged firm, with Daisy group founder Matthew Riley acting as chairman. It is thought the new firm will have around 700,000 customers in total, with the deal bringing together Virgin Media's broadband fibre network and mobile infrastructure with Daisy's IT platforms and customer service offering. The pair are hoping to deliver around £600 million in cost savings from the merger, equating to around £70 million a year by 2030, with more than half within the first three years. Mr Riley, who is the majority stakeholder in Daisy, told the PA news agency there will be 'significant' cost savings from merging Virgin Media O2's B2B customers onto its billing systems and IT platform. He said he could not give 'categorical assurances' that the deal will not impact the firm's 1,400 workers or its sites, but said there was very little overlap between the two businesses and hopes he can retain the group's headquarters in Nelson, Lancashire. Lutz Schuler, chief executive of Virgin Media O2, said: 'Combining Virgin Media O2 Business with Daisy Group is the perfect pairing and creates a new British business connectivity powerhouse and greater competition in the market. 'Following completion, the new company will have the scale, talent, focus and infrastructure needed to drive digital transformation and provide business customers with an innovative one-stop shop for all their communications and IT needs,' he added. Daisy has nine sites across the UK – Nelson, Sheffield in South Yorkshire, Birmingham, London, Sidcup in south-east London, Basildon in Essex, Bournemouth in Dorset, West Bromwich in the West Midlands and Prudhoe in Northumberland. Virgin Media O2 declined to give staff numbers for its business-to-business (B2B) operation, but employs around 16,000 workers in total and has offices in locations including Reading, Paddington in London and Manchester. The pair did not say how much the combined group would be worth. The deal is expected to close early in the second half of 2025, but must first get approval from the Competition and Markets Authority, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Government – given that Virgin Media O2 provides critical UK telecoms infrastructure. Mr Riley, who founded Daisy Group in 2001, said the deal will 'catalyse the next phase of our ambitious growth plans'. He added: 'This transformational transaction will revolutionise the telecommunications and IT landscape and create the most comprehensive offering for businesses of all sizes across the UK.' Customers of the firm will include small offices, small and medium-sized businesses, large companies and public sector organisations, as well as indirect partners, according to the companies. Virgin Media O2 is already a major supplier to Daisy and the deal comes after the two groups began talks within the past six months. Mr Riley said he had no plans to leave following the deal. He told PA: 'I don't want to exit, I want to grow the business. 'It's a massive opportunity for me and Daisy.'
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Virgin Media O2 and Daisy unite to form £3bn business telecoms group
Virgin Media O2 and Daisy Group are to unveil a merger of their business communications and IT operations in a bid to create a £3bn telecoms powerhouse. Sky News has learnt that the two companies will announce later on Monday that they are to combine to form a company with annual revenues of about £1.4bn. Virgin Media O2 will own 70% of the new business, while Daisy Group will own 30%. The tie-up will create a stronger challenger to BT Group, Britain's biggest provider of IT and telecoms services to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). The new VMO2-Daisy business will have roughly 700,000 customers, and be valued at between £2.5bn and £3bn including debt. Combining the two operations is expected to produce substantial cost savings, according to one insider. Telecoms industry sources said that Matthew Riley, the Daisy Group founder, would chair the company, while Jo Bertram, the managing director of Virgin Media O2 Business, would be its chief executive. It is the latest in a string of deals engineered by Mr Riley since he founded Daisy in 2001. One source said it was likely to be subjected to rigorous scrutiny by the Competition and Markets Authority, but was not expected to encounter any major obstacles. Both VMO2 and Daisy have been contacted for comment.
Sky News
12-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Virgin Media O2 and Daisy unite to form £3bn business telecoms group
Virgin Media O2 and Daisy Group are to unveil a merger of their business communications and IT operations in a bid to create a £3bn telecoms powerhouse. Sky News has learnt that the two companies will announce later on Monday that they are to combine to form a company with annual revenues of about £1.4bn. Virgin Media O2 will own 70% of the new business, while Daisy Group will own 30%. The tie-up will create a stronger challenger to BT Group, Britain's biggest provider of IT and telecoms services to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). The new VMO2-Daisy business will have roughly 700,000 customers, and be valued at between £2.5bn and £3bn including debt. Combining the two operations is expected to produce substantial cost savings, according to one insider. Telecoms industry sources said that Matthew Riley, the Daisy Group founder, would chair the company, while Jo Bertram, the managing director of Virgin Media O2 Business, would be its chief executive. It is the latest in a string of deals engineered by Mr Riley since he founded Daisy in 2001. One source said it was likely to be subjected to rigorous scrutiny by the Competition and Markets Authority, but was not expected to encounter any major obstacles.
Washington Post
20-04-2025
- Washington Post
Tragedy killed 4 U.S. soldiers in Lithuania. A small army got them home.
The search party fanned out to scout for any sign of four American soldiers — and their 70-ton vehicle — who last month vanished in the night deep in the woods outside Pabrade, near Lithuania's border with Belarus. It was 1st Sgt. Matthew Riley who discovered the tread marks that had gouged the soft earth along a firebreak trail. They led to a wet patch, barely 30 feet in diameter, but did not continue on the other side. Afloat on the surface was a soldier's satchel and a bottle of weapon lubricant.
