Easynet pays £26.2m for Dutch broadband firm

UK broadband company Easynet today said it is to pay £26.2m for Dutch business-broadband firm Novaxess Beheer and is placing 6.35 million new shares to help pay for the deal.

And the company is on the lookout for further European purchases. A company spokesman said, "the company is still looking around, but won't pay any silly prices. The CEO, David Rowe, has said that we're a mean buyer".

Easynet last month reported that it had hit break-even point on turnover of £116m. The company has a comprehensive UK network based on fibre along the British Waterways network of canals and 150 local loop unbundled (LLU) exchanges.

The company plans to add another 80 LLU exchanges to its network this year. Its European network extends to ten countries.

Novaxess is a business-broadband company with 4,500 customers and 84 unbundled exchanges in the Netherlands. It claims to cover most of the key Dutch business centres.

Last year, Marconi disposed of the last of its holding in Easynet in two separate tranches.

The placing is being handled by Hoare Govett, with a minimum price of 130p.