Hundreds lose jobs at 2e2 after bidders walk away | The Times

Administrators overseeing the sale of 2e2, the failed IT services company, have dismissed 627 staff after failing to convince any of the bidders circling the company to take it over.

However, it is understood that the administrators were in talks last night with O2, the mobile network, that could save about 100 jobs.

O2 had formed a joint venture with 2e2 to supply IT services to blue-chip customers and hopes to take on the staff to ensure it does not leave its customers in the lurch.

O2 declined to comment. O2 Unify customers include G4S, the security company.

FTI, the administrator, had been confident last week that it could find a buyer to take on the 2e2 business, which collapsed last week. But an exodus of customers over the weekend put paid to a clean sale as buyers such as Daisy, Computacenter, BT and Logicalis, part of Datatec, pulled out of talks.

2e2, which was regarded as a plum candidate for a flotation to breathe life into the British listed IT services market, was rumoured to have breached its banking covenants last month because of its large debts, but was in talks with its private equity owners over a refinancing.

The company lifted revenues to £403 million in the year to December 2011, its last published set of accounts, but its debt then was 4.4 times its operating profit of £42 million.

via Hundreds lose jobs at 2e2 after bidders walk away | The Times.

By David Yates on February 11, 2013   /   Blog Post, business   /   Leave a comment