Israeli-French businessman Patrick Drahi has increased his stake in British telecoms giant British Telecom (BT) Group plc (LSE: BT) from 18% to 24.5%. The deal was completed by Drahi Altice UK, which reportedly bought 650 million shares at £147.85 each for a total purchase of £960 million.
Patrick Drahi is the controlling shareholder of Altice, which is the parent company of the Israeli telecommunications company Hot Telecom. In addition to Israel, Altice, considered one of the world’s leading telecommunications groups, also has major operations in France, Portugal, the United States and other countries. Altice bought a 12% stake in BT in 2021, and increased its stake to 18% last year.
Drahi reiterated that he has no plans to try to take control of BT and intends to cooperate with the company, expressing his great appreciation for the company’s current management. Earlier this month, BT announced a restructuring programme, which will see 55,000 jobs cut by 2030.
It remains to be seen if Drahi follows the same strategy with BT as he did with Hot. He first entered the Israeli market by purchasing a small stake in Hot from Bank Leumi and then gradually began increasing his holdings until he eventually took control of the company.
BT is one of the largest telecom companies in the world and some market sources believe it is only a matter of time until he increases his stake in the company.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on May 23, 2023.
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