Business secretary clears deal for BT shares by French billionaire Patrick Drahi
The acquisition of BT shares by French billionaire Patrick Drahi’s Altice has been cleared by the business secretary after a review under the National Security and Investments Act (NSIA).
Drahi’s company is now set to increase its BT stake from 12 per cent to 18 per cent, after announcing the decision in December.
In a statement in May, BT said that Kwarteng was exercising his “call-in power” under the NSIA, which was brought into effect at the beginning of this year, to review the investment.
The same month, Kwarteng also announced an inquiry into the takeover of the UK’s largest chipmaker.
The French billionaire began, who also owns auction house Sotheby’s, bought his first stake in BT last June.
The deal for some 12.1 per cent of the company was worth £2.2bn at the time, and made him the largest shareholder in the British telecoms giant.
“The government will always act to protect the UK’s critical national telecoms infrastructure if we judge action is necessary,” it said in a statement today.
“Under the National Security and Investment Act, acquisitions are assessed on a case by case basis, so any future transaction could be subject to a separate assessment under the Act.