Dixons Carphone announces disposal of majority stake in The Phone House Netherlands
24 April 2015
Dixons Carphone plc, Europe's leading specialist electrical and telecoms retailer and services company, today announces that it has entered into an agreement to dispose of a majority 83% stake in The Phone House Netherlands BV. Relevant Holdings BV will acquire the majority stake, a company set up by the shareholders of Optie1, a company with extensive experience of telecom retailing in the Dutch market.
Following completion, which is expected to take place by the end of June, Dixons Carphone will remain a minority shareholder and will further develop its Connected World Sevices' partnerships in the Netherlands, initially through an insurance and technical support contract, with scope to expand this further in the future.
Commenting on the transaction, Sebastian James, Dixons Carphone Group Chief Executive, said:
"I am delighted to announce this partnership for Phone House Netherlands, alongside a long-term contract for the provision of insurance and technical support services, through our Connected World Services division. Optie1 is an experienced telecom and retail company, making it the perfect partner in this market.
Following last week's disposal of The Phone House Deutschland, this is another step in our clear strategic plan to focus on our core retail business in markets where we have scale and real relevance to customers, whilst growing through service partnerships in the wider international arena. We look forward to building a strong and healthy business together."
Henk Kamsteeg, Supervisory Board Chairman of Relevant Holdings, said:
"Our aim is to maintain the existing Phone House and Optie1 brands and sub-brands in the market as separate brands. Phone House and Optie1 will be positioned differently, with the Optie1 telecom stores mainly located in smaller cities and Phone House stores in larger cities. We are looking forward to cooperating with the great people at Dixons Carphone to further develop our quality and highly customer focused telecom retail businesses in The Netherlands."
ENDS
For further information
Kate Ferry |
IR, PR & Corporate Affairs Director |
+44 (0)7748 933 206 |
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Hannah Collyer |
Head of Media Relations |
+44 (0)1727 203 041 |
Nick Cosgrove, Helen Smith |
Brunswick Group |
+44 (0)207 404 5959 |
Information on Dixons Carphone plc is available at www.dixonscarphone.com
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About Dixons Carphone
Dixons Carphone plc is Europe's leading specialist electrical and telecommunications retailer and services company, employing over 40,000 people in 12 countries.
Focused on helping customers navigate the connected world, Dixons Carphone offers a comprehensive range of electrical and mobile products, connectivity and expert after-sales services from the Geek Squad and Knowhow.
Dixons Carphone's primary brands include Carphone Warehouse, Currys and PC World in the UK and Ireland, Elkjøp, El Giganten, Gigantti and Lefdal in the Nordic countries, Kotsovolos in Greece, Dixons Travel in a number of European airports and Phone House in Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Our key service brands include Knowhow in the UK, Ireland and the Nordics, Geek Squad in the UK, Ireland and various other European markets.
Business-to-business services are provided through Connected World Services, PC World Business and Carphone Warehouse Business. Connected World Services aims to leverage the Group's existing expertise, operating processes and technology to provide a range of services to businesses.
About Optie 1
Optie1 is an independent telecoms retailer and operates approximately 70 stores throughout The Netherlands. The company offers a broad range of mobile and fixed telecom products as well as connected services. There is only limited overlap with the retail footprint of The Phone House Netherlands.
The shareholders of Optie1 have vast experience in telecoms and have in the past successfully introduced and expanded multiple distribution and retail concepts for mobile telecommunication including mobile hardware distributor MCC (now TechData Mobile NL) and telecom retailers BelCompany and t for telecom.
