Bharti Global, the international investment arm of Bharti Enterprises, will acquire about 24.5 percent stake in BT Group, Britain’s largest broadband and mobile company, from Altice UK.
Bharti Televentures UK has inked an agreement with Altice UK to acquire about 9.99 percent stake in BT Group’s capital imminently with the rest about 14.51 percent of BT’s share capital is to be acquired post regulatory clearances.
Telecom billionaire Patrick Drahi’s Altice UK, the largest shareholder in BT, has been struggling with high debt.
Bharti Global hopes the investment will help create new synergies in the telecom sector between India and UK in the areas of AI and 5G R&D and core engineering among others.
Bharti Enterprises is already the largest shareholder with 21.2 percent share in the merged entity of Eutelsat and OneWeb.
In 1997, BT acquired a 21 percent stake in Bharti Airtel. Hence Bharti Global’s latest move to acquire a 24.5 percent stake in the British telecom company marks a defining moment for the Indian telecom conglomerate.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises said: “Bharti and British Telecom have an enduring relationship going back more than two decades wherein BT owned 21 percent stake along with two board seats in Bharti Airtel from 1997-2001.”
BT Group CEO Allison Kirkby said: “We welcome investors who recognise the long-term value of our business, and this scale of investment from Bharti Global is a great vote of confidence in the future of BT Group and our strategy.”
