Bharti Group picks up 24.5% stake in BT Group from Altice UK

Bharti Global, the international investment arm of Bharti Enterprises, on Monday announced an agreement to acquire 24.5 per cent stake in BT Group plc from Altice UK. "The shares will be purchased through Bharti Televentures UK Ltd – a company established and wholly owned by Bharti Global. Bharti Televentures UK Ltd has entered into a binding agreement with Altice UK to acquire 9.99 per cent stake of BT Group's issued capital imminently with the balance 14.51 per cent of BT's share capital to be acquired following receipt of applicable regulatory clearances," the company stated in a release.

"Bharti and BT have an enduring relationship going back more than two decades. In 1997, BT acquired a 21 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel and today marks a significant milestone in Bharti's history as it acquires a stake in the iconic British Company – BT, thereby, strengthening the India-UK bilateral partnership," it also mentioned.

Bharti said it hopes that this investment will further help create new synergies in the telecom sector between both countries in the areas of AI and 5G R&D and core engineering amongst others, offering great potential to collaborate on industry best practices and emerging technologies. 

Commenting on the investment in BT, Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises, said, "Bharti and British Telecom (BT) have an enduring relationship going back more than two decades wherein BT owned 21 per cent stake along with 2 board seats in Bharti Airtel Limited from 1997-2001. Today marks a significant milestone in Bharti Group’s history as we invest in BT - an iconic British Company."

Bharti's own record of owning and operating telecom and broadband networks around the world is underpinned by placing customers, digital innovation and operational efficiency at the heart of its business, Mittal added.

Timotheus Höttges, CEO, Deutche Telecom, which holds 12% stake in BT said, “We see this as a positive step for BT. We have a long and good working relationship with Bharti. So we are looking forward to work together with Bharti in the Board of Directors for the sake of BT shareholders and customers.”

The company's telecoms portfolio includes Bharti Airtel Ltd, a top three mobile operator globally, with networks that cover around two billion people serving over five hundred and fifty million customers in 17 countries across South Asia and Africa.