Patrick Drahi (Photo by Moshe Shai Flash 90)
Telecom tycoon Patrick Drahy is looking to increase his holdings in British Telecom as he seeks to expand his influence in the British company, with a bet that the launch of its fiber optics will increase the value.
Overseas reports, since the billionaire bought 12.1% of BT shares worth about £ 2.2 billion ($ 2.95 billion) on June 10, shares of British telecom giant have fallen 15% and fallen 46% in the last five years.
The new lineup of French-Israeli entrepreneur Altice UK is BT’s largest shareholder, ahead of Deutsche Telekom holding 12.06%. Deutsche Telekom has repeatedly expressed interest in examining options for its share and CEO Tim Hotges said on Friday that he keeps “all options open” regarding BT.
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Drahi, 58, has supported BT’s plans to build a fiber-optic network that will serve 25 million homes by the end of 2026. He will be free to buy more from the UK telecom giant on December 11, after pledging in June not to launch a takeover bid for the company. Six months under UK takeover rules. An increase in Drahi shares in BT may occur in parallel with Altice’s potential exit from Portugal.
A group of private equity funds and infrastructure investors, including European funds EQT and CVC Capital Partners, have lined up for the business, but price expectations are seen as a major hurdle, according to sources who warned the deal was unsafe.
Drahi set a price tag of about 7 billion euros ($ 8.01 billion) for the business, valued it at about eight of its annual profits and increased pressure on buyers who have until Christmas to decide whether they want to bid or not.
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