The Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal is to buy a 25pc stake in BT from embattled tycoon Patrick Drahi.
Bharti Global, the investment arm of the Mittal family’s telecoms giant Bharti Enterprises, said on Monday it had agreed to buy 24.5pc of BT’s share capital from Mr Drahi’s firm Altice.
Mr Mittal said: “This investment demonstrates the confidence we have in BT and in the UK.
“BT has a strong portfolio of market-leading brands, high-quality assets and an experienced management team with a compelling strategy mandated by the BT board to deliver value over the long term, which we fully support.”
Allison Kirkby, chief executive of BT, 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.
“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.”
The deal will take place in two parts, with Bharti Enterprises initially acquiring a 9.99pc stake, followed by a further 14.51pc stake once it receives national security clearance from the Government.
Despite the large size of the shareholding, Bharti Enterprises said in a statement it had “no intention” of making a formal bid to acquire the company.
The deal will turn Mr Mittal, one of India’s richest men with a reported net worth as high as $19.7bn, according to CNBC, into a significant player at BT as new chief executive Ms Kirkby battles to enact a turnaround and cut £3bn in costs.
Founded by Mr Mittal in 1976, Bharti Global is today one of India’s largest conglomerates, with interests spanning telecoms, media, and space.
It follows mounting tensions at French-Israeli billionaire Mr Drahi’s company Altice, which is struggling under the weight of a €60bn (£51bn) debt pile.
High interest rates have heaped pressure on the tycoon, who built his empire through cheap debt, sparking crunch talks with lenders over recent months.
Altice had previously been upping its stake in BT in recent years and had faced a national security probe in 2022.
Bharti and BT share history too. The former state monopoly was a minority shareholder in Bharti’s Airtel division from 1997 to 2001.
Mr Mittal said: “This investment demonstrates the confidence we have in BT and in the UK.
“BT has a strong portfolio of market-leading brands, high-quality assets and an experienced management team with a compelling strategy mandated by the BT board to deliver value over the long term, which we fully support.”
Bharti Enterprises added in a statement to investors that it “endorses BT’s goal to transform the UK’s telecoms landscape by building fibre, rolling out 5G technology and developing market-leading services to live, work, game and learn”.