Thus Group
Thus Group plc
THUS is a business operating in the telecommunications sector. It was once listed on the London Stock Exchange but is now owned by Cable & Wireless Worldwide.
The company began life in 1994 as Scottish Power Telecommunications Holdings Ltd (trading as Scottish Telecom), an offshoot of the privatised energy company Scottish Power.
In 1998 the company acquired Demon Internet. Rod Matthews, who had founded the business, remained as Chief Executive until 1999.
In 2002 it was demerged from Scottish Power under the name THUS in a deal which effectively wiped out the majority of the company's debts, placing the company on a sound financial footing.
In August 2004 it sold its call centre operation to Response Handling Ltd and in 2006 it acquired Your Communications and Legend Communications.
On 28 May 2008 Cable and Wireless announced their intention to purchase the company with an offer of 165p per share: this first offer was rejected on 6 June 2008. On 30 June 2008, Cable & Wireless announced that it had acquired a 29.9% stake in Thus and tabled an improved offer of £329 million, or 180p per share. On 1 October 2008, Cable & Wireless completed the takeover of THUS: the company is now known as "THUS, a Cable & Wireless business".
The company supplies some services (most notably Internet services) to home users. Many of its major customers, which included its former owner Scottish Power and Southern Water (which was also once a Scottish Power subsidiary), as well as Glasgow City Council, BSkyB and HSBC have had their business transferred to Cable & Wireless Worldwide.
As an alternative telco in the UK, THUS was often involved, either alone or in conjunction with other telcos, in complaints made to the UK regulator Ofcom about alleged monopolistic practices of BT.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Wikipedia