Dialaphone bought out by Phones4u - choice is disappearing ..

Anon

As of late last week, Phones4u have bought out Dial-A-Phone.

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/Phones_4u_buys_dialaphone.html

What are the implications of this for consumers, given CPW have bought out a number of retailers, and now Phones4u - and many of the better known independents have gone out of business.

Less choice = higher prices and fewer good deals?

Anon

mobilejunkie

I thought that's what the hoardes wanted and have been demanding??

alnsv1000s

The Directors of Dialaphone are laughing...

If you have their Insurance they will continue to receive a profit share until your Insurance is cancelled, giving them an income of 35 Million per annum...

Dial-A-Phone’s owners have hung on to lucrative ongoing revenue from operators and insurance from existing customers worth a combined £60m as part of the sale to Phones 4u, it emerged this week.

It is believed the joint owners Richard Frank and Jonathan Beck (who control 51% of the business), together with 49% shareholder, Barclays private equity, will continue to receive insurance revenue from the 300,000 customers currently on its books, according to sources close to the deal.

The insurance business is estimated to be worth £35m. The company will also receive the ongoing revenue operators such as O2 for the existing customers it signed up – worth an estimated £25m.

The sellers are also believed to keep around £15m of cash that is in business, and the £9m sale price from Phones 4u.

The owners will continue to receive income until such time as the customers end their insurance schemes or their contracts with their respective operators.

The fruits of the recurring revenues kicked in last year as the customers it signed up after the ongoing revenue deals with the likes of O2 started to bear fruit.

Companies house figures posted in the middle of last year show Dial-A-Phone’s sales fell from £160m in 2006 to £90m last year, while, curiously, pre-tax profits jumped to £19m from just £250,000 over the same period.

Phones 4u meanwhile has taken control of the Dial-A-Phone brand, property assets and highly prized software and systems. It has also bought the Dial-A-Phone’s white label affiliates operation, Direct Solutions Limited (DSL), which provides the deals, credit checking and delivery for the likes of 3, Comet and Argos.

jimpix12

Just goes to show how much of a racket insurance products are.

Bigmanny147

That means higher prices for mobiles phones only a few major players left..what about dialaphone's customers, who will they need to contact if there is a problem. Phones4U ??