BSkyB has sold the business-to-business arm of Easynet, the telecoms company it acquired for £211m to drive its broadband and telephony businesses, to a private equity group for £100m.

BSkyB, which acquired the business in 2005, is to sell Easynet Global Services to LDC, a British private equity group.

Sky said the deal, which will be subject to regulatory approval, will not affect its operating profit expectations for this financial year. It retains the UK network assets of Easynet, but LDC will have a long-term access agreement for the fibre network that supports Sky Broadband and Sky Talk.

"The acquisition of Easynet was central to the early success of Sky Broadband and Sky Talk," said Andrew Griffith, Sky's chief financial officer. "While retaining the UK network assets to support the continued growth of our residential customers, we propose to exit the B2B segment with the sale of the business to a credible team and on attractive terms."

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