Everything Everywhere has paid out £125 million in an additional dividend to both its owners Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom in a sign of how cash generative the UK’s largest mobile operator is and why it has attracted interest from a potential buyer. It emerged this week that former chief executive Tom Alexander had some months ago tried to put together a £8 billion private equity-backed takeover bid for Everything Everywhere.  The proposed bid fell apart because of the current financial climate.

Making such a bid even unlikelier were comments by France Telecom chief executive Stephane Richard that the operator was “happy with the joint venture” and had no interest in selling its interest, according to Reuters. He added that “the Germans are also happy to be there, they do not wish to sell”. He added that if France Telecom received an offer that made sense, the company would look at it. “But that does not mean we will accept it”.