GOTALK SELLS OFF CONSUMER DIVISION

TELCO gotalk has sold its consumer division to Bean Communications in a deal worth up to $10 million.

While gotalk CEO Steve Picton (pictured) would not disclose the exact price paid for his consumer business, he says the sale was part of a consolidation process as the company focuses on its roaring pre-paid market.

Gotalk is the largest provider of pre-paid products in Australia and New Zealand and in the past 12 months has grown to cater to 100,000 pre-paid customers.

“Gotalk has always been focused on the pre-paid market and we sold our post paid consumer division,” says Picton.

“It’s a whole phase of consolidation, an element that was sub sale and we could not grow it quick enough to achieve economies of scale. It originally started as a minor part of an acquisition, but it has never been a core focus of the business.

“The success of our pre-paid mobile has dwarfed anything else happening in the group. We were better off focusing our resources in that (pre-paid) area, while the consumer division is worth more in other people’s hands. For us it was a smart decision.”

Gotalk has also set up shop in the Philippines and has identified growth markets in North Africa and the Middle East.