Bharti Global to acquire about 24.5 percent stake in BT Group from Altice UK

Bharti Global, the international investment arm of Bharti Enterprises, will acquire about a 24.5 percent stake in BT Group from Altice UK, according to a release on Monday. The shares will be purchased through Bharti Televentures UK -- a company established and wholly owned by Bharti Global.

"Bharti Global, the international investment arm of Bharti Enterprises, a leading Indian business group with world-class companies in telecoms, digital infrastructure, and space communications, has reached an agreement to acquire an interest in 24.5 percent of the issued share capital of BT Group plc from Altice UK," Bharti said.

Although the release did not divulge the size of the deal, market watchers say at BT's valuation of roughly USD 15 billion dollars, the deal could be in the ballpark of USD 4 billion. As per the release, Bharti Televentures UK has entered into a binding agreement with Altice UK to acquire about 9.99 percent stake of BT Group's issued capital imminently with the rest of about 14.51 percent of BT's share capital to be acquired post regulatory clearances.

Bharti hopes the investment will further help create new synergies in the telecom sector between India and the UK in the areas of AI and 5G R&D and core engineering among others, "offering great potential to collaborate on industry best practices and emerging technologies". It is pertinent to mention that Bharti and BT have a relationship going back more than two decades.

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 a 21 percent stake along with two 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.