back to article Dixons and Carphone Warehouse confirm £3.7bn merger

Dixons Retail and mobile phone shop Carphone Warehouse have confirmed their £3.7bn merger after months of talks, creating one of the biggest retailers in Blighty. Dixons, which already owns Currys and PC World, will combine with the mobe-purveyor to form Dixons Carphone in a 50:50 merger, rather than an acquisition of one side …

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  1. mhoulden
    Devil

    Boring Name

    Should have gone for Curry House instead.

    1. Tom 38

      Re: Boring Name

      House of Dix, surely.

      1. Swifter
        Trollface

        Re: Boring Name

        Na, i think Carphone Dixshouse sounds better.

    2. graham_

      Re: Boring Name

      or Still Here

      with the slogan: hopefully everyone shops on the high street

      1. Ian Yates
        Pirate

        Re: Boring Name

        Or Window Shopper Where you check out things you want to buy online

  2. fridaynightsmoke
    Facepalm

    All in a name

    "Hmmm, so what name will make people think of the latest technology at affordable prices?"

    "I know! 'Dixons Carphone'!"

    -facepalm-

    1. Justice

      Re: All in a name

      You can bet an obscenely large bonus that they paid through the nose for that pearler of a rebranding. Keep the receipts, lads!!! I think you might be in line to get that repaired. Unless of course you didn't buy the extended warranty.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    job losses

    So looks like about 1000 jobs in 2 years, offset by 500 new recruits...

    Does that sound like closing stores in towns when there is a Curried Dick retail park outlet already.... and then adding back a couple of mobile phone people to work out of a corner of the shop?

    Does to me!

    The biggest problem this sort of retail has is property/leases - through acquisitions they often have multiple shop premises in the same town - slightly bizarre and probably not much use to them.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: job losses

      "it'll be a fantastic platform for growth and job creation."

      You're right. Earlier this week Dixons have announced 150 job losses, so it's a bit rich really the Dixons chairman saying this.

      But you know, it's popular to come out with this stuff at the moment. David Cameron for example last week said the private sector has created 600,000 new jobs since the Con-Dem Government came to power. But what he doesn't tell you is that the public sector have sacked/laid off 600,000 workers.

      This day and age you can say what you like, without backing anything of it up, as long as you can give it a good spin and hope no one checks the figures.

      1. Ossi

        Re: job losses

        The 600,000 jobs claim was made in 2012:

        http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01j279t

        (19 minutes in)

        It was a dodgy claim at the time, but since then there's been a considerable net increase in employment. Obviously time passes quickly at your workplace!

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: job losses

        Yes, so if your figures are correct, breaking even, which squares well with Ed the Ball claiming in October 2011 that it was ‘a complete fantasy’ the private sector could mop up the jobs culled in the public sector.

        Dont trust any of them!

      3. Phil W

        Re: job losses

        I realise it's not much comfort to those that are facing redundancy but 150 staff within the entirety of DSG is so minimal a percentage as to almost insignificant. When dealing with companies of this size merging like this, job losses that stay under 4 figures is something of a miracle.

  4. JayBizzle

    A big blow for Phones 4 U (boohoo)

  5. Scott Broukell

    (anagram)

    Dons Car Phoenix

  6. King Jack
    Facepalm

    Why keep the name carphone? That term hasn't existed for years. People have zero imagination.

    How about Dixon Wax Cylinder.

    1. Blane Bramble

      Dixons Horseless Carriage Wireless Radiogram

  7. Cuddles

    Not just outdated...

    Aren't carphones actually illegal these days? You can use a mobile with a hands free setup, but an actual old-school carphone with a handset would get you a swift fine if anyone saw you using it. Once they were done laughing.

    1. monkeyfish

      Re: Not just outdated...

      I don't know, it probably won't be long before such things are considered retro, and therefore cool. Personally I look forward to non-mobile phones coming back to being a sensible size for your face, and mobile phones coming back to a sensible size for your pocket.

      1. Lamont Cranston

        Re: Not just outdated...

        They have a retro-styled "brick" phone for sale, now, which seems like an expensive, impractical novelty: http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/phone/other/the-brick

    2. Vic

      Re: Not just outdated...

      an actual old-school carphone with a handset would get you a swift fine if anyone saw you using it

      My one had hands-free operation[1].

      Vic.

      [1] It was shit, though. I invariably ended up picking up the handset. It was legal back then...

  8. Christoph
    Joke

    You can hardly expect a good choice of name from the people who when they merged with PC World missed the chance to rename themselves PC Dixon

    1. king of foo

      Perhaps with a grass coloured stethoscope for the corporate logo?

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Dicks-on merger?

    I thought their service is (always has been) absolutely bed-rock bottom shite. And yet, they have now pulled off the impossible, it will drill deeper still (well, that's what mergers are for, the bottom line ;)

    1. Flywheel

      Re: Dicks-on merger?

      It's good to know that I can now get twice as much in-depth technical knowledge in one place..

      1. DrBobMatthews

        Re: Dicks-on merger?

        Flywheel You are either being ironic, or your technical ability is very limited. Ther is hardly any technical knowledge in Dixons, PC World or Carphone Warehouse, they employ third rate salesmen who havent a clue either technically or customer service wise.

        1. Vic

          Re: Dicks-on merger?

          > You are either being ironic, or your technical ability is very limited.

          What's that whooshing noise I hear?

          Vic.

  10. rhydian
    Joke

    This will be the first merger ever...

    ...Covered by an extended 5 year guarantee!

    But seriously, the new borged being will need to sort out the frankly dismal level of product knowledge that the average Currys/PCWorld sales droid has. Carphone warehouse might have a few issues, but I've always found their customer care to be at least "reasonable".

    Currys on the other hand couldn't show me a live broadcast on a TV they had for sale as the shop hadn't actually got a TV licence. Then, when I asked about integrated freesat TVs, the sales droid BSOD'd and had to fetch the supoervisor. When I told the supervisor I didn't want to look at an LG because I'd experienced faulty ones in the past, he said my doubts were unfounded.

    That was until I pointed out the LG on display which was turning the screen off once a second...

  11. Piro Silver badge

    Absolute and total bollocks

    "Lots to do, but assuming this merger is completed, it'll be a fantastic platform for growth and job creation."

    How, exactly? The merger is to save money! How will this be done? Shops that are near to each other, scrap one. That's the retail stuff cut down.

    Support staff? Don't need two sets, so they can massively cut down on those numbers.

    It's to save money and increase profitability. Creating jobs would be directly opposing to this. Some people talk so much bollocks.

    That said, I was amused by the suggestions of phallic names.

    1. TheOtherHobbes

      Re: Absolute and total bollocks

      > "Lots to do, but assuming this merger is completed, it'll be a fantastic platform for growth and job creation."

      >How, exactly?

      For Dixphone Carthorse manudjment.

  12. Andrew Moore

    I was hoping for a Carphone/Spearmint Rhino merger so I could use my Carphone Whorehouse joke...

    1. SuperTim

      Carphone Whorehouse...

      is what many of their own employees* call themselves. It actually takes presence of mind and self control to not say it to managers during meetings, it's that natural for them.

      *I live with a former opal telecom person, who are owned by carphone ware/whorehouse**

      **delete as applicable.

  13. string

    to misquote McNealy...

    three garbage trucks colliding

    I do look forward to the demise of these soulless out of town retail parks.

    1. rhydian

      Re: to misquote McNealy...

      The easiest and quickest way to kill off out of town retail would be to make high street retail attractive again. The way to do that is to realise that people do like to drive to shops, and thus charging a fortune for town centre parking isn't the way to go.

    2. string

      Re: to misquote McNealy...

      I didn't link properly, this is what I meant:

      http://goo.gl/YNk8yY

      1. Robert E A Harvey

        Re: tthe Poole retail jungle

        I bought something from that branch of PC whirled once. It just goes to show how crushingly boring Poole/Bournemouth are on a wet January monday. There is a maplin nearby, for those who want a serious dose of people being patronising, rude, and wrong in one sentence.

        1. rhydian

          Re: tthe Poole retail jungle

          This reminds me of Aberystwyth back in the late 1990s and Early 2000s. Thanks to the vagaries of takeovers, Dixons were directly opposite Currys on the High Street. The only difference was that Currys had fridges and washing machines on display, while Dixons had cameras. In the end they moved the Currys to an out of town retail park, and Dixons were gone not long after.

  14. Geoff May

    IT support

    CPW offshored their IT to IBM and InfoSys. Is Dixon's also offshored and if so to whom?

  15. Mage Silver badge
    Trollface

    It was Curry's Cycles Originally.

    People brought their Lead Acid Accumulators to get charged, so they thought "Why not sell entire Radio?" Unlike the Green'grocer's' s'ignage's' they dropped the apostrophe.

    All they need now is to acquire Halfords :D

    Carphone Warehouse has been a stupid name for maybe nearly 20 years. Why bother changing now!

  16. James Pickett

    I thought a warehouse was someone who turned into a house at full moon...

    1. dogbreath

      I used to be a werewolf ...

      ... but I'm alright nooooooooooooooowww! :-)

  17. James Pickett

    "couldn't show me a live broadcast on a TV they had for sale as the shop hadn't actually got a TV licence"

    Brilliant!

    1. rhydian

      It was hilarious. The whole point of going there was to compare TVs with my own eyes, so I asked to get BBC2 on all the 32" ones they had in a row (about 5). Sales droid answers that due to not having a TV licence, they couldn't do it.

      John Lewis got my business instead...

      1. Robert E A Harvey

        But that...

        But that was a sensible answer from a salesdroid, and probably even true.

        How did he get in?

      2. Richard Taylor 2

        JL

        "John Lewis got my business instead..."

        In my experience (white goods as well as the occasional bit of tech), John Lewis are good, the staff appear to know something about what they are selling - AND - admit it when they don't or have to go and ask. Prices reasonable, warranties good, generally a decent company with whom I am happy to do business.

  18. Caaaptaaaain kick arse

    Dix Whore house?

    sorted.

  19. AceRimmer

    At least it saves me some effort

    Now instead of ignoring Carphone Warehouse AND Dixons I have only 1 company to avoid.

    Now if they can merge with PCWorld, Vodafone and Halfords the consolidation of shit would be complete

    1. ubergeek

      Re: At least it saves me some effort

      Too late, Dixons already own PC World, along with Currys

    2. Robert E A Harvey

      Re: At least it saves me some effort

      my thoughts perrzakerly. have you been reading my mind with your alien space ray?

  20. Truth4u
    Thumb Up

    yay

    two of the most overpriced purveyors of mediocre consumer goods are teaming up. maybe the staff can trade notes on how to be rude to customers because they're both horrible in different ways.

  21. PaulM 1

    What about phones4u?

    Presumably the phones4u franchises will now be closed in all the Currys/PC World stores.

    @AceRimmer. I actually think that Carphone Warehouse and phones4u are briliant. They are the only stores that sell unlocked phones and they give you a £20 discount on every phone if you upgrade from an existing PAYG SIM. I have six 99p candy bar phones with Virgin PAYG SIMs in them that I top up once every 6 months so that I can always take advantage of Carphone Warehouse and phones4u upgrade offers. I bought two Huawei Y300s for only £39 each that way.

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    To be fair

    I give not two shits about people at shop level in Dixons or Carphone Warehouse losing their job. Take it as a lesson learned not to have a shit job where no-one really actually needs your services.

    Last time I went into a Dixons was to ask about a digital camera they had in stock. Played with it, took a few snaps, then went home and bought it online from somewhere.

    Great. :)

  23. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Unhappy

    1 giant company

    Same s**t service.

  24. Paul Hunter

    Last time I tried to buy a SIM-free phone in CW, the sales guy refused to sell me one, because he said he doesn't get any commission on a phone sold without a contract, and as they didn't have many in stock, he'd rather keep them for customers who were going to make him some money. I asked to speak to the manager and he agreed with the sales guy. I haven't been back.

  25. The Godfather
    Devil

    what a name...share price didn't like it

    Clearly, a well debated and considered merged name - it's shite, looks last-minute and one likely to be synonymous with services from a yellow three-wheeler, aka 'Delboy' Trotter.

  26. Ascylto

    Closures

    The CEO (or whatever fat cat name he has) did NOT say there will be no closures of stores. This was widely reported even by the BBC, He ACTUALLY said that there would be no closure of BIG stores. This leaves a lot of wiggle-room. What's a BIG store anyway? He, BTW, was the new head honcho of Dickwarehouse.

  27. Ascylto

    Fatty Catty

    As CEO of Dicko's he earned a mere £1.3 million. How does he pay his bills? Perhaps he's got a warranty.

    I remember years ago a TV prog about the head-honcho at John Lewis. I recall he said something like he led a very nice lifestyle on £500,000.

    Why do people buy from Dicko's or Pissy World et al when the CEOs don't know when enough's enough? (PS. I know the answer.}

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