The UK government has given final approval for the sale of Manx Telecom.

The takeover of the island’s leading telecoms firm by state-owned Jersey Telecom was announced in October last year.

Now the UK Cabinet Office has confirmed that the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has signed a final order allowing the sale to proceed.

This follows what it described as a ‘detailed national security assessment’.

The Cabinet Office cited MT’s role as a critical supplier of services to UK government departments ‘in support of UK national security’.

It has allowed the sale to proceed subject to a number of conditions, including that MT continues to provide those services to the UK government and establishes a Cyber Security Group overseen by a senior executive.

In a statement, the UK Cabinet Office said: ‘The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster considers that the measures contained within the final order are necessary and proportionate to remedy, prevent or mitigate the risks to national security.’

Parties to the order are MT and Dunlop Bidco Ltd, an Isle of Man-registered special purpose vehicle set up for the purpose of the acquisition.

Dunlop Bidco is ultimately owned and controlled as a joint venture by Dutch-registered infrastructure investment firm CVC DIF and the JT Group, Jersey’s state-owned telecoms operator.

The UK Cabinet Office said the acquisition constitutes a ‘trigger event’ under the National Security and Investment Act.

It said the Cyber Security Group to be established within MT will ‘carry out the activities Manx Telecom performs which have an impact on or are in respect of UK national security’.