UK Broadband picks Daisy's Wimax business

Daisy Group sells off licensing business and management team buys WiFi division

Matthew Riley: The Wimax and WiFi business were not core to the Daisy Group

Comms provider Daisy Group has offloaded its Wimax Spectrum licensing business to UK Broadband for £12.5m in cash as it looks to focus more on unified communications (UC).

Under the terms of the deal, UK Broadband – part of the PCCW Group – bought the licensing business, which was part of Daisy’s Freedom4 Limited sub-group, which has now been closed down.

Another part of the Freedom4 division – the loss-making Freedom4 WiFi – has been sold to the existing management team for a "nominal sum".

Daisy estimated that the sale of the licensing business will save £800,000 a year and the closure of the Freedom4 Limited sub-group will save an extra £1m a year. Freedom4 WiFi lost about £200,000 a year for the company.

Matthew Riley, chief executive of Daisy, said: "Our core strategy is to become the leading provider of UC to the SME and mid-market business customers.

“The Wimax and WiFi businesses were not core to the Daisy Group, and the disposals mean we can focus on our unified communications strategy, as well as improve cash flow."