BT in talks to sell French business to Computacenter
BT today said it is in exclusive discussions to sell its French business to British IT services and consulting firm Computacenter.
The telecoms giant’s French division, which manages and maintains IT and network infrastructure, pulled in revenue of roughly £104m last year. The companies did not disclose the value of the deal.
The move marks BT’s latest efforts to slim down its global businesses as part of a wider transformation plan aimed at reversing a sharp decline in the company’s share price over the last year.
It comes a week after the company sold its operations and infrastructure in 16 Latin American countries to CIH Telecommunications Americas for an undisclosed sum.
“With this agreement we are close to reaching another milestone in the execution of our strategy to make BT Global a more agile business focused on the growing requirements of our multinational customers,” said Bas Burger, chief executive of BT Global.
Shares in BT rose more than five per cent following the announcement.
The deal would also allow FTSE 250-listed Computacenter to strengthen its position in the French networking market and increase its domestic customer base in the country.
The Hertfordshire-based IT firm, which has a market capitalisation of more than £1.2bn, was trading up more than seven per cent this morning.
BT said it would retain a presence in France serving multinational businesses and organisations, including access points to its global network and a cyber security operations centre.
BT and Computacenter also intend to enter into a partnership agreement in France.
The deal is expected to complete by the end of the year subject to consultations and regulatory approval.