Dixons put one third of its Wanadoo stake on sale

The sale raised 198m euros (�135.4m) which Dixons said it will use to pay down its debt.

But Dixons also warned that it would cut up to 350 head office jobs because of tough trading conditions.

The retailer saw �500m wiped from its share value in January after reporting weak sales of games consoles, hi-fis and extended warranties.

Monetising a stake

The retailer gained its stake in Wanadoo by selling Freeserve, the UK ISP it created, to the French company.

Wanadoo is almost 75% owned by France Telecom.

Dixons put 40 million shares on the market, almost a third of its total holding of 131 million shares.

Lesley Smith, Dixons' head of communications, told BBC NewsOnline:

""We always indicated we'd monetise our stake."

It now cannot sell any more shares for 180 days.

Share boost

Dixons own shares have had a torrid year, losing more than half their value amid fears of a slowdown in sales.

But they rose 5% to 94p on news of the Wanadoo sale but fell back down to 91p after the job cuts were revealed.

Dixons, which also owns the Currys, PC World and The Link chains, said no shops would be hit by the redundancies.

"We are constantly reviewing our cost structure and steps like this are always unfortunate," said a spokesman.

"But we believe they are necessary to place our business in a stronger position."