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London, UK. July 21, 2010 – Global provider of managed solutions, Easynet, has today reached an agreement with BSkyB (Sky) over the proposed sale of Easynet Global Services and its subsidiaries to Lloyds Development Capital (LDC), a UK private equity company.

LDC will pay Sky £100 million (EUR 119m) for the business on completion of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval and a works council consultation in respect of certain Easynet employees. Easynet reports that its existing management team, including CEO David Rowe, has demonstrated a strong track record over a number of years and will have the full backing of LDC, which is fully funded by the Lloyds Banking Group. Staff numbers will be unaffected by the sale.

Sky will retain the UK network assets that it acquired as part of the original acquisition of Easynet Group in 2005. As part of the proposed sale, Sky and LDC will enter into a long-term supply agreement in which Easynet Global Services will have continued access to Sky’s fibre network. BSkyB will also continue to be a business customer of Easynet.

David Rowe, Easynet's CEO,  commented: “This is an excellent opportunity for Easynet, its customers, and its staff. It provides us with additional capital to help fund the company’s next phase of development and allows us to retain a business relationship with Sky. Since being part of the Sky family we’ve grown in stature in the UK, and globally too. Our revenue has increased year on year, and we’ve continued to dominate the fast-growing segments of managed hosting, managed telepresence, Internet Protocol (IP) solutions and connectivity, whilst maintaining growth and innovation in our network services and products. We look forward to continuing this success under new ownership and building on our enviable reputation for excellent customer service and a global portfolio.”

Sky acquired the Easynet Group in 2005 to support its strategy of diversifying into consumer broadband and home telephony. Following the successful launch of Sky’s residential communications services and the continued growth and profitability of Easynet’s Enterprise business, the decision was made to look at options to divest the Global Services business as it is not core to Sky’s longer-term strategic goals.