Tiscali buys Pipex broadband unit

Pipex used Baywatch star David Hasselhoff in a recent ad campaign

UK internet firm Pipex has sold its broadband and phone business to Italian rival Tiscali for £210m ($426.6m).

The sale of the division follows a four-month strategic review of Pipex by investment bank UBS.

The purchase of Pipex's broadband unit - which was put up for sale in March - is expected to lift Tiscali's UK broadband customer base to 1.9 million.

Tiscali also unveiled a first-half core profit of 60m euros (£40.7m; $82.7m), up 45% on last year.

Consolidation

Pipex is one of the last big independent broadband providers still to be operating in the UK, following a number of recent deals such as the purchase of PlusNet by BT.

The prospect of a sale has therefore been closely watched by rivals such as BT, BSkyB and Virgin Media.

Pipex itself has expanded through a number of acquisitions in the past few years.

In March 2006 it bought the Homecall voice and line rental business from Phones4U for £44m. It has also acquired Toucan from IDT Telecom and Bulldog's broadband customers from Cable & Wireless.

The company also used Baywatch star David Hasselhoff in a recent advertising campaign to attract customers.

In addition to its Pipex brand, the firm also sells internet services under the Nildram, Bulldog and Freedom2Surf names - each itself formerly an independent internet service provider.