Caudwell set for £400m windfall

TELECOMS tycoon John Caudwell is set to add a further £400m to his coffers through a lucrative deal with Vodafone.

Caudwell, who owns the Phones4U chain, is poised to sell Singlepoint, his customer database. Vodafone has been in talks to buy Singlepoint from the privately-owned Caudwell Group since March.

Singlepoint handles connection, billing and customer care for about 1.4m customers, 90% of whom are on the Vodafone network. The acquisition would give Vodafone direct access to those customers, allowing it to maximise revenues.

Vodafone, run by new boss Arun Sarin, last week paid £155m to buy business telecoms group Project Telecom. Founders Tim Radford and Richard Cunningham, whose families own 60%, will share a £100m windfall.

Selling Singlepoint could push Caudwell, already worth an estimated £840m, into the billionaire bracket. Now 50 and balding, the entrepreneur had found that his curly ginger hair made him a target for bullies in the rough part of Stoke-on-Trent where he grew up.

He started his business with his brother Brian in 1987 as Midland Mobile Phone and now enjoys the trappings of wealth, including an ex-model girlfriend, a 90-room mansion, a Bentley, a jet and a yacht.

Vodafone refused to comment.