Cordiant Digital Infrastructure, a UK-listed investment fund, has received approval from Irish competition authorities to acquire BT Ireland's wholesale fibre and business connectivity unit for €22 million. The unit, known as BT Communications Ireland Ltd (BTCIL), manages approximately 3,400 km of fibre and serves around 400 customers in various sectors, including telecoms, enterprise, and government.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has cleared the deal, which excludes BTCIL’s customer base of multinationals and financial institutions, as well as its emergency call answering service. BT will continue to be a customer of Cordiant for three years post-transaction.
Cordiant noted that the remaining conditions for closing the deal involve approval under Ireland’s foreign direct investment legislation and the transfer of retained businesses from BTCIL. The company anticipates completing these conditions and finalizing the transaction by late 2025.
This acquisition follows Cordiant's earlier purchase of Irish fibre networks, Enet and Magnet Plus, collectively known as Speed Fibre Group, in late 2023. Speed Fibre Group will technically handle the acquisition of the BT unit.
BT Ireland, part of the UK telecom giant BT Group and led by managing director Shay Walsh, also agreed to sell its two data centres in Dublin to US-based Equinix for €59 million. Last year, BT Ireland withdrew from a tendering process for the next emergency call answering contract, although its current agreement extends until November 2025, with a potential two-year extension.
Following the sale of the data centres and the fibre and business connectivity segments, around 300 of BT Ireland's 650 employees will remain with the company. BT Group has engaged UBS for a strategic review of its Irish operations, shifting focus back to its home market amid a significant cost-cutting initiative.
The retained Irish business, which serves multinationals and financial institutions, was not included in the sale as it remains a crucial market for BT. BT initially entered the Republic of Ireland in 1998 through a joint venture with ESB and later acquired Esat Telecom. Over the years, BT has made several strategic moves, including the spin-off of its mobile division, which eventually became O2.
In 2019, BT entered exclusive negotiations to sell BT Ireland to Mayfair Equity Partners, but those talks collapsed early the following year due to a change of heart from BT. The current acquisition marks a significant shift in BT's strategy as it continues to streamline its operations and focus on core markets.
