Pipex chairman Peter Dubens still seems keen to offload what remains of the group following the breakup deal it cut with Tiscali in July.

In an interview with the Independent this weekend, Dubens said the ongoing review of the remaining scraps of the Pipex carcass would be complete "the next few months".

Tiscali has agreed to pay £210m for the consumer broadband unit, leaving hosting, business broadband, and WiMAX swinging in the breeze. Dubens had been known to favour a wholesale exit from the consolidating UK internet services market.

The entrepreneur is now going after a slice of the booming private equity market by setting up Oakley Capital, which is set to list on AIM. The new firm's backers, who have stumped up £100m, include ex-Yahoo! boss Terry Semel's son Eric.

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