The steal of the decade, or a willing bidder ending a struggling company’s difficult life on the stock market? Either way, the debate about the proposed takeover of Talktalk Telecom is not going away (Miles Costello writes). After the deadline for acceptances of Toscafund’s take-private proposal was extended again, shareholders have just over a week to decide what to do if a formal bid comes.
Talktalk was set up in 2003 by Sir Charles Dunstone, 56, as part of his Carphone Warehouse mobile phones retailer, before being spun out as a separate entity in 2010. It provides mobile, landline and television services and has more than four million customers, but more recently has been trying to build up its share of the broadband market. Sir
