Truphone sale jeopardised, founder puts in last-minute bid to buy back company
A last minute bid from Alexander Straub, has jeopardized the sale of Truphone. Straub is one of the founders of Truphone.
The company is a GSMA accredited global mobile network headquartered in London that operates its service internationally. It has an annual revenue of £45.62 m. Shares in the company were put up for a rush sale after petrochemicals tycoons Alexander Abramov and Alexander Frolov were put on UK’s sanctions list.
Abramov and Frolov had invested nearly £250 m into the company and own major stakes in Russian steel firm Evraz. In May 2022, Hakan Koç, a German businessman and his business associate Pyrros Koussios had offered to buy Truphone for £1.
Koç had also stated that they would invest a further £15 m into the company. However, Straub has stated he has concerns about the direction the company would take under new leadership and has offered to buy out Abramov and Frolov’s stakes.
Truphone’s board is sceptical of Straub’s offer and is unlikely to take it forward. However, in the interim the offer has jeopardized the transfer of assets to Koç. In response, Straub was quoted as saying “The company has a fiduciary duty to accept our offer considering the proceeds will go to the sanctions committee.”