India’s Bharti Global To Acquire 24.5 Percent Of BT

BT confirms it has reached an agreement with Bharti Global, which will see the Indian conglomerate acquire a 24.5 percent of BT Group.

In an emailed statement to Silicon UK, BT Group said that it “notes that Bharti Global has reached agreement to acquire c24.5 percent of the issued share capital of BT Group from Altice UK.”

“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,” said BT chief executive Allison Kirkby.

Altice’s BT stake

“BT has enjoyed a long association with Bharti Enterprises, and I’m pleased that they share our ambition and vision for the future of our business,” said Kirkby. “They have a strong track record of success in the sector, and I look forward to ongoing and positive engagement with them in the months and years to come.”

The deal comes after the Altice UK shareholding of BT had triggered concern with the British government, which then conducted a national security review of Altice UK’s BT shareholding.

Altice UK is wholly owned by Patrick Drahi – a French-Israeli telecoms billionaire, who is also the founder and head of Altice Europe, the second largest telecoms firm in France.

Drahi founded Altice back in 2001, and is a prolific dealmaker, making a name for himself by snapping up cable and mobile companies in Europe and the United States.

The billionaire entrepreneur was born in Morocco but emigrated to France as a teenager. He has a net worth of $6.6 billion, according to Forbes, and is also the owner of auction house Sotheby’s.

But Drahi found himself on the radar of the British government in June 2021, when Altice had made a surprise purchase of a 12.1 percent stake in BT, making it the largest single shareholder.

National security

Then in December 2021 Altice UK acquired another 5.9 percent of BT for £2.2 billion, raising its total BT stake from 12.1 percent to 18 percent. It subsequently increased its stake even further.

Patrick Drahi promised at the time not to launch a takeover bid for BT for six months, but the UK government bluntly warned all parties involved that it was monitoring the situation.

The UK government said it would intervene if necessary to protect BT, which owns most of the UK’s critical fibre broadband network.

In May 2022 the UK government officially confirmed a national security assessment of Altice’s stake increase in BT.

In August 2022 however, the UK government concluded its national security review, and BT informed Silicon UK that Patrick Drahi would be allowed by the government to retain his stake in BT.

Bharti and OneWeb

Bharti acquiring a stake in BT Group will likely ease British government concerns, due to the fact that the Indian firm is a known entity to the UK government.

It should be remembered that Bharti and the British government had in 2020 acquired the bankrupt satellite internet firm OneWeb for $1 billion.

A year later in 2021 OneWeb secured an additional $500 million in funding from Bharti, boosting its overall OneWeb stake to 38.6 percent.