UK's musicMagpie will keep seeking buyers as BT ends talks

(Reuters) -MusicMagpie said on Monday it will continue to seek buyers after telecoms group BT confirmed it will not make an offer for the British online retailer of used smartphones and electronic products.

Shares in musicMagpie fell 19% to a nearly three-month low of 16.35 pence, giving it a market value of just over 17.5 million pounds ($21.81 million).

The seller of second-hand DVDs and computer games last week said it was in early-stage talks with BT and Aurelius Group regarding a possible buyout offer. A few days later, Aurelius Investment said it did not intend to make an offer for the company.

Neither BT or Aurelius provided a reason for dropping out of the takeover talks.

As of Friday's close, musicMagpie stock had lost almost 90% of its value since its market debut in April 2021 as a cost-of-living squeeze hurt sales.

The firm, which resells Apple products in the UK and U.S., in July said it was confident in meeting full-year expectations.

($1 = 0.8025 pounds)

(Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)