TalkTalk agrees £75m deal with major investor in Gary Neville's St Michael's scheme

A major investor in Gary Neville's St Michael's scheme in Manchester city centre has agreed a £75m deal with TalkTalk.

The Salford-headquartered telecoms giant has secured a non-recourse financing facility with KKR.

The facility replaces a prior deal which was due to mature this month.

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The new deal will give TalkTalk access to additional liquidity for approximately three years.

"We are pleased to use our experience in receivable financing globally to support TalkTalk with capital that will help the company continue to grow and connect consumers and businesses across the United Kingdom," said Giacomo Picco, a managing director at KKR.

Demica served as advisor to TalkTalk and will act as the reporting and calculation agent for the program.

US-headquartered KKR first backed Gary Neville's £400m St Michael's development in July 2021.

The New York-based firm has previously invested in UFC while its portfolio also includes the likes of hair care brand Wella.

KKR's investment was made through its $2.2bn second dedicated European real estate fund, KKR Real Estate Partners Europe II.

Earlier this year, BusinessLive reported that TalkTalk was eyeing a sale of its business-to-business division in a deal that could be worth over £200m.

The Salford company is looking to offload TalkTalk Business Direct, which sells directly to 90,000 customers.

TalkTalk Business Direct has an annual revenue of more than £85m and an EBITDA of over £17m.

Last month, it was reported that both Sky and Lancashire-based Daisy Group are in the running to buy the division.