- Bharti Enterprises has agreed to by a 24.5% stake in BT Group from Altice.
- The company said the e investment was a vote of confidence in the telecoms group and the UK.
- Bharti said it did not intend to make an offer for the entire company but supports the direction of the company.
Susanah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown:
“BT is the biggest riser in early trade, leaping by more than 6% as it emerged that India’s Bharti Global will buy a big chunk of the business. It will acquire a 24.5% stake, from Altice UK, with almost 10% being transferred immediately. This is a confidence boosting move, with Bharti Global clearly confident that there is long-term untapped value in the group. It clearly sees great potential in Openreach, which is responsible for maintaining and building out the new fibre networks. It hopes to reach 25mn premises by 2026 and looks well on track to do that.
It’s also likely to have been encouraged by indications that the cost of building 5G infrastructure may have peaked, and once new customers are moved over to the new networks, there is the potential for lower running costs.”
