Vodafone in talks over £400m Caudwell deal

Vodafone is in talks with John Caudwell, the mobile phone entrepreneur, about buying The Caudwell Group's customer database in a deal which could be worth as much as £400m.

The business is called Singlepoint and has 1.4 million customers derived from Mr Caudwell's Phones 4U chain.

Vodafone declined to comment as did Mr Caudwell. Contacted on his mobile phone yesterday the telecoms billionaire said: "I have no comment to make. You shouldn't be calling me. I'm in America on a skiing holiday. How did you get this number?"

Singlepoint is a service provider which buys wholesale capacity from network operators and sells it on to the consumer along with their mobile phone.

The deal would give Vodafone direct access to these customers and enable it to make more money from each sale. About 90 per cent of Singlepoint's customers use Vodafone's network.

It is unclear why Mr Caudwell is interested in selling the business. However, one analyst said: "There has been some speculation about this for some time and I think it will probably happen quite quickly. It is quite a cash intensive business and I don't think there would be any other potential buyers as most of the customers are with Vodafone."

Mr Caudwell is a flamboyant businessmen who is often photographed with his helicopter or on a motorbike. He has an estimated net worth of about £1bn, though this may have declined as a result of the dot.com implosion. Singlepoint has an estimated turnover of about £500m a year.

The Caudwell group is privately owned with 97 per cent of the equity held by Mr Caudwell. Its Phones 4U chain is one of the biggest mobile phone retailers in the UK alongside Carphone Warehouse and The Link, which is owned by Dixons.

Carphone Warehouse is due issue a trading statement today.