Energis customers threaten walk-out

NEWS The crisis at Energis is getting worse by the day, with the telco's customers now threatening to jump ship - a move that could jeopardise any possible sale of the company. Energis, which is negotiating with its lenders over around £600m worth of debt, needs to retain as many customers as possible to remain a reasonably attractive proposition for any potential buyer. But according to this morning's FT, at least one company has already gone elsewhere for its telecoms needs, with many others "actively considering" transferring to other carriers such as Thus, which claims it has already been approached by current Energis customers. Major Energis clients include the BBC, Bertelsmann, Boots, Freeserve and Going Places. It emerged yesterday that Mike Grabiner, who walked out of the top job at Energis last August, may put in a bid for his former employer via his venture capital group, Apax Partners. It is thought to be sizing up a bid of around £1.2bn.