Carphone Warehouse and TalkTalk officially split

Carphone Warehouse and TalkTalk have official parted ways, as a long-awaited demerger has been made official.

When the move was originally announced last year, chief executive Charles Dunstone said: "It's been increasingly obvious that the group is now two businesses."

Carphone Warehouse will continue with its retail stores, and it will keep the 50 per cent share in Best Buy Europe, which is set to open a store in Essex soon, followed by stores in Southampton, the West Midlands and Liverpool.

TalkTalk will focus on selling broadband connections. Its purchase of Tiscali last year made it the largest internet service provider (ISP) in the country.

Carphone's share price was slightly below expectations, while TalkTalk's topped predictions - but between the two, the combined price was still well above where the firm had been before for the demerger, the Financial Times noted.

It also said analysts believed TalkTalk was worth 60 per cent of the old firm, and Carphone 40 per cent.

Dunstone will remain chief executive of both firms.