Shell in talks on Post Office broadband | Business

Royal Dutch Shell is said to be in exclusive talks to acquire the Post Office’s broadband business for up to £100 million.

The Anglo-Dutch oil group has emerged as the preferred bidder in the sale of the division, Sky News reported yesterday. The Post Office has about 500,000 broadband customers.

Shell emerged as a surprise bidder in October, alongside Talktalk Telecom Group and Sky.

Shell acquired the household energy supplier First Utility in 2018, later rebranding it as Shell Energy Retail. At the time First Utility had about 20,000 broadband customers, having recently entered the telecoms market to cross-sell services to customers.

The household energy division has since grown only slightly, to 870,000 customers from 800,000 at the time of the acquisition, while broadband customer