Altice, a telecom seller controlled by billionaire Patrick Drahi, has bought a 12.1% stake in BT worth 2bn pounds, making it the largest shareholder in the British company.
The acquisition prompted him to return to sack the Luxembourg company, which had resigned two years ago reducing its debts. The investment in BT, made through a new UK-based company that specializes in Altice’s major projects, represents Drahi’s courage since acquiring two US companies five years ago.
Altice said he did not want to apply for a British telecommunications company, meaning that according to the rules of recruitment he would not pay for six months without the approval of BT executives, and would not be offered a seat.
The BT building was a transformation of Drahi, whose previous thinking was to be able to manage his precious assets by raising debt and withdrawing his money and selling property. His support of the existing leadership team and a brief look at the industry’s work in fiber construction, where the UK is lagging behind other markets, is a new approach.
Deutsche Telekom remained a 12% stakeholder in BT, meaning that the UK company is one of the largest telecoms companies in Europe with its largest telecom operators as its largest shareholder.
Altice has been buying shares in open markets through banks including a net worth of £ 810 million but only told BT executives on Wednesday that it was the biggest shareholder in the company.
This raised questions on Drahi’s mind to open up the benefits over time, but people who are well aware of the issue say a possible bid would not work. “Complete acquisition (for BT or Openreach) can be politically motivated because of the importance of the network,” says Jerry Dellis, a researcher at Jefferies.
The share price of BT has risen by 90% since it reached 11 years at the end of the summer, plus a 5% jump last week. It gained 1% to $ 1.87 after the Altice price was revealed Thursday.
The recent pricing meeting has been driven by a number of positive developments in BT, including the move of the Ofcom manager to reduce the weight on companies selling fiber exchanges as well as the government’s idea of setting taxes on sales revenue that has strengthened the company.
Drahi, who owns a real estate agent Sotheby’sHe also said he believed BT was set to spend a lot of money on redundanting the British network to have fiber, which is not reflected in its price.
“BT has the opportunity to expand and expand its entire network to support the millions of families in the UK,” Drahi said. “We agree with the views of those leading us to take advantage of this opportunity.”
BT CEO Philip Jansen says the company has been short of money for a long time as it begins to raise prices. Since joining Worldpay in 2019, the state-owned enterprise-funded business, telecom has been discussing infrastructure and finance for its £ 15bn network plan and is considering bringing in an assistant partner putting more nutrients in the villages.
Jansen said: “Investing in such a level from the marketing leader is a big vote on BT’s strong reliance on the UK market leader in digital communications. I have already spoken to Patrick to welcome him and look forward to discussions and discussions.
Altice money back when BT is looking for a replacement for Jan du Plessis, who is because of the low summer follow bedrooms.
Elevation removed its parts in Amsterdam last year, the controversy was futile. This was part of an effort to bolster its growing empire – which affects France, Portugal, Israel, the US and the Dominican Republic – after a series of cuts and losses in recent years. It also split its US business into another company. The BT move followed a failed $ 7.8bn test to buy Canadian company Cogeco last year.
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