French billionaire wants a bigger stake in rocky BT
Raising the stakes: French billionaire Patrick Drahi
Patrick Drahi is considering raising his stake in BT for a fourth time, according to City sources.
The French billionaire already owns 24.5 percent of the group through his French telecom company Altice.
He would like to raise it to a whopping 29.9 percent — the highest level before a shareholder must make a formal offer to buy the company. This happens when an investor’s interest reaches 30 percent.
Drahi, 59, has repeatedly said he does not want to try to take over BT, which is worth £12.6bn.
That is still the case, says a source.
But if he took his stake above 25 percent, the government would re-examine whether his investment poses a threat to Britain’s security under a law called the National Security & Investment Act.
A review under the same law last year gave him the green light.
It comes weeks after BT CEO Philip Jansen said he would step down from FTSE 100-listed BT within a year.
The Mail on Sunday revealed days earlier that Jansen was “desperate” to leave the group, which he has led since early 2019 and navigated through the pandemic.
The 56-year-old recently presented his long-term vision for the company – which has 130,000 employees – outlining plans to cut up to 55,000 jobs by 2030, many of which will be taken over by artificial intelligence.
Its strategy also includes plowing £15bn into the rollout of next-generation 5G mobile and full-fibre broadband in the UK.
Chairman Adam Crozier is expected to provide an update later this summer on the hunt for Jansen’s successor.
Drahi, who also owns auction house Sotheby’s, initially bought a 12 percent stake in BT in 2021.
A few months later, he increased this to 18 percent.
Then, in May 2023, he raised it to 24.5 per cent – despite a loss on his stake after BT’s share price fell.
It could be a tough time for Casablanca-born Drahi to increase his stake in BT as Altice’s Portuguese division has been rocked by an investigation into alleged corruption, which has led to several executives being suspended.
Altice and BT – whose shares fell two percent on Friday – declined to comment.