Yahoo Finance Grant Shapps demands buyer of Roman Abramovich's Truphone hires security personnel
Ministers have demanded that the German entrepreneur who is buying Roman Abramovich's telecoms company for £1 must hire government-cleared security personnel for the deal to go ahead amid national security concerns.
Grant Shapps, the Business Secretary has concluded that the takeover of British mobile company Truphone by German entrepreneur Hakan Koç could pose a risk to national security following an investigation into the deal.
Mr Shapps said there was a possibility the purchaser could lead to the disruption of UK mobile services or potentially see Truphone's UK database exploited.
Laying out requirements to allow for the deal to complete, the Department for Business said Truphone, which makes crucial e-sim technology, must hire a chief information security officer approved by the Government to go through with the deal.
It said new telecom security measures must also be introduced and that Mr Koç must also produce a security report, conducted by an auditor approved by the Government, to set out the new security measures.
Mr Shapps said these steps were "necessary and proportionate" to mitigate the risks to national security.
Mr Koç said he fully supported and would "promptly implement" the provisions in order to prevent the risk to national security.
The update comes after the Government referred the deal to a more thorough investigation in September under former business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng. The takeover was frozen in July. Mr Koç, who founded German online car dealer Auto1, has been critical of the hold-up, posting his messages to Mr Kwarteng on social media.
He is buying the business from Mr Abramovich, who previously owned Chelsea FC, for £1. Truphone, which also sells flexible international data plans for mobile phone users, had at one point been valued at half a billion dollars.
The Telegraph reported earlier this year that officials had been looking into claims that Mr Koç’s bid may also have links to Russia. His previous business, Auto1 received investment from Target Global, a venture capital fund co-founded by Alexander Frolov.
Mr Frolov is the son of Russian businessman Aleksandr Frolov, who had been an investor in Truphone alongside Mr Abramovich. A spokesman for Mr Koç has previously declined to comment on the claims.
