London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Whitehall extends national security probe into Truphone deal

Whitehall extends national security probe into Truphone deal

Officials will take up to 45 additional working days to scrutinise the purchase of Truphone's assets by Hakan Koc, a German entrepreneur, Sky News learns.
The government has extended a national security probe into the fire-sale of a leading British mobile phone technology provider whose owners include Roman Abramovich.

Sky News has learnt that officials at a division of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) are to take up to 45 additional working days to scrutinise the purchase of Truphone assets by Hakan Koc, a billionaire German technology entrepreneur.

The extension, which prohibits the sale from being completed, has been ordered by the Investment Security Unit (ISU) under the National Security and Investment Act (NS&I).

Sources said the decision to extend the inquiry did not itself imply that the government would seek to block the deal, with one executive close to the process expressing confidence on Friday that it could yet close before the end of this month.

Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary who is widely expected to be named chancellor in a Liz Truss-led administration, is understood to be being kept informed of developments.

Truphone is a mobile virtual network operator in nine countries, focusing on international corporate clients such as investment banks.

The company holds an embryonic remote SIM provisioning contract with BT Group, which they said triggered potential concerns in relation to the takeover.

Sources told Sky News in July that Mr Koc had indicated that he and his fellow acquirer, Pyrros Koussios, were prepared to exclude that contract from their purchase of Truphone's assets.

Mr Koc is also said to be preparing to introduce a monitoring system for app-based messaging services into Truphone's products, enabling investment banks' compliance departments to more effectively supervise employees' use of such platforms.

This follows a slew of fines issued by US regulators against major banks for failing to prevent the use of services such as WhatsApp for sensitive work-related activities.

A person close to Mr Koc said his objective was to transform Truphone into a UK-based global technology champion.

A number of deals have already been scrutinised under the new NS&I legislation, with several having been extended before being cleared.

The delay to the sale of Truphone's assets comes during a fraught period for the company.

It is said to have been within weeks of running out of cash, with emergency funding understood to have been discussed in recent weeks.

More than 400 people work for the company in the UK and overseas.

A sale process was run for Truphone before the summer, with Mr Koc being selected as the preferred bidder on an exclusive basis.

An insider told Sky News in July that the issuing of the interim order had produced the "perverse" outcome of Truphone effectively remaining for a longer period in the ownership of an already-sanctioned Russian oligarch.

Mr Abramovich and two Russian business partners are said to have invested more than £300m in Truphone during their time as shareholders.

The oligarch has already presided over the most prominent sale of a British asset since Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, in the form of the £2.5bn sale of Chelsea Football Club.

Mr Koc is a German-born businessman who co-founded the used-car platform Auto1.

That listed in Frankfurt last year, and although its valuation has since fallen in line with listed technology stocks around the world, it crystallised Mr Koc's status among the super-rich.

The government has come under pressure to demonstrate that the new national security laws are being applied robustly, leading Mr Kwarteng's department to declare in June that they were working well - despite concerns expressed by a number of leading City law firms.

"The government is laser-focused on growing our economy and levelling up every part of the UK, but this will not come at the cost of our national security," he said.

"This report shows our new investment screening process is working.

"It's simple and quick, giving firms speed and certainty to do business in a way that protects the security of the UK."

In total, more than 200 transactions were notified to the government during the first three-month period after the act became law.

Mr Koc declined to comment on Friday, while a government spokesman previously said in relation to the investigation: "While commercial transactions remain primarily a matter for the parties involved, the government routinely monitors acquisitions across the economy in case of national security concerns. 

"The business secretary has powers under the National Security & Investment Act to intervene in acquisitions where necessary."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×