Fear as tycoon hikes BT stake
GOVERNMENT WILL ‘ACT IF REQUIRED’
A TELECOMS billionaire received a warning shot from the Government yesterday after raising his stake in BT.
French-Israeli tycoon Patrick Drahi is believed to have splashed out £1billion increasing his holding to 18 per cent.
His firm, Altice, was already the broadband, mobile and phone giant’s biggest shareholder.
Altice immediately insisted it “does not intend to make an offer for BT”.
Drahi, 58, spoke to BT boss Philip Jansen and new chairman Adam Crozier on Monday night. He said: “We continue to hold them in high regard and remain fully supportive of their strategy.”
His key focus is BT’s Openreach arm and its rapid rollout of broadband across the UK. Despite Drahi’s comments, there are concerns about his creeping control, even though he hasn’t asked for a seat on
BT’s board. The Government said it was “monitoring the situation carefully”. A spokesman added: “We are committed to levelling up the country through digital infrastructure, and will not hesitate to act if required to protect our critical national telecoms infrastructure.” A full-on takeover swoop for BT would be difficult after the National Security and Investment Act – meant to protect British infrastructure – comes into force early next year. Drahi has previously pursued debtfuelled deals to snap up assets in France, the United States, Portugal and Israel. He acquired a 12.1 per cent stake in BT in June, worth £2.2billion at the time. The firm’s share price slumped more than 4 per cent yesterday. BT said it would “continue to operate the business in the interest of all shareholders”.