BT Group buys Dabs.com, plans foray into online sales |
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Sun, 30 Apr 2006 11:55
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LONDON: Britain's telecoms operator BT Group Plc. has acquired online electrical goods retailer Dabs.com for 30 million pounds.
The buyout will enable BT Group, the country's largest fixed-line operator, to offer its full range of telecoms and information technology products and services online. Dabs.com now sells items like computer chips and other electronic and electrical items from manufacturers like Sony, Microsoft and Toshiba to about 1.6 million customers. It processes some 75,000 orders a month.
A BT Group statement said the purchase will strengthen the company's online IT and digital products sales and service presence for small and medium-sized businesses as well as for retail customers.
Founded by owner David Atherton in 1990, Bolton-based Dabs.com, has a minor presence in France. For the year ended March 2005, the firm had revenues of 180 million pounds. Its assets are valued around 42 million pounds, while it has some 200 employees on its rolls.
Analysts see BT Group's foray into online retailing as a counter to Dixons, which has made elaborate plans to focus on online sales and has said its Dixons brand is being withdrawn from High Street trade for exclusive online use.
BT group said it will retain the Dabs brand and expand the product line to include its own small business networking and computer products.
Justifying the acquisition, BT Retail chief executive Ian Livingston said, "Dabs is a dotcom success story and one of the best companies in its field." The firm's outstanding expertise will boost BT's online power to sell innovative, value for money, communication and converged IT products and offer great service to a wide range of customers, he added.
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