BT did not disclosed the terms of the acquisition, although a purchase price of around 30m pounds ($54.6m) has been mooted in the press.
Dabs.com sells everything from PC hardware, electronic goods such as TVs and cameras, and even books. It was established in 1990 in Bolton and employs more than 200 people. It now processes about 75,000 customer orders each month and offers more than 15,000 products.
According to a BT spokesman speaking to Computer Business Review, the acquisition is part of BT’s strategy to strengthen its online sales and service capabilities, particularly for small and medium-sized business and consumer products.
Dabs.com has around a million consumer and business customers across the UK, as well as a small operation in France. In the year ended March 31, 2005, the company had sales of 180m pounds ($328m) with gross assets valued at 42m pounds ($76.5m).
There is little doubt that the principle reason for the acquisition is Dabs.com’s sizeable customer base, which BT hopes will be a lucrative channel into which it can sell its range of products and support services.
The BT spokesman said there were no planned redundancies from the acquisition and that Dabs.com would continue as a standalone business reporting to BT Retail. BT will also apparently appoint a managing director and financial director, and the Dabs.com board will be made up of its management and BT personnel.
