TalkTalk dials up £100m investment from Ares Management | Money News

TalkTalk, the telecoms and broadband group, has secured a £100m capital injection from one of its existing backers in a deal that will relieve the growing financial pressure on the company.

Sky News has learnt that Ares Management has agreed to provide the new funding in two tranches, with the first £60m said to be imminent.

A deal could be announced as soon as Friday afternoon, according to banking sources.

The funding agreement comes amid discussions between TalkTalk and its bondholders about a potential break-up of the company, which would involve the sale of its consumer arm and PXC, its wholesale and network division.

Those disposals are now not expected to be launched in the short term.

One person close to the situation said that in addition to Ares’ £100m commitment, TalkTalk had raised £50m from two disposals in March and June, comprising the sale of non-core customers to Utility Warehouse.

There was also an in-principle agreement to defer cash interest payments and to capitalise those, which would be worth approximately £60m.

TalkTalk has been grappling with a strained balance sheet for some time, and recently drafted in advisers from Alvarez & Marsal, the professional services firm, to assist its finance function.

The group has more than 3m broadband customers, making it one of the largest players in the UK market.

It completed a £1.2bn refinancing late last year, but has been under pressure from bondholders to raise additional capital.

Last month, the Financial Times reported that BT’s broadband infrastructure arm, Openreach, could block TalkTalk from adding new customers to its network in an escalating dispute over payments owed to BT Group.

TalkTalk, which was taken private in 2021, and Ares both declined to comment.