Carphone Warehouse Group plc and Dixons Retail plc (which operates the Currys and PC World businesses) have agreed to merge the two companies into a new business called Dixons Carphone plc. Shareholders of each company will own 50% each of the new business.
The directors expect savings from the combined company to reach almost £40 million in the 2015/2016 financial year and at least £80 million by the 2017/2018 financial year.
When the deal is completed, Carphone Warehouse chairman and co-founder Sir Charles Dunstone will become the Chairman of Dixons Carphone.
There’ll be two Deputy Chairmen - Roger Taylor, current Deputy Chairman of Carphone, and John Allan, Chairman of Dixons. The new CEO will be Sebastian James, who’s currently Dixons CEO, while Andrew Harrison, CEO of Carphone Warehouse, will become Deputy CEO.
Sebastian James of Dixons said “The ability to take what we have built in electrical retailing and add the profound expertise of Carphone Warehouse in connectivity would make us a leading force in retailing for a connected world. Together, we can create a seamless experience for our customers that will enable technology to deliver what it promises – that is, to make their lives better.”
Subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, the merger is expected to be completed this autumn.
| We discussed some of the issues surrounding a Carphone/Dixons merger in our podcast on Wednesday. You can listen to the programme on our website, by subscribing free via iTunes, by downloading the mp3 file, by using our RSS feed or on the Stitcher.com mobile app. |