Patrick Drahi’s telecoms investment group has boosted its stake in British Telecom (BT) to almost 25%, just days after BT announced its most aggressive cost-cutting move in decades.
Altice UK, controlled by billionaire Drahi, said on Tuesday it had raised its stake in the former British monopoly to 24.5% from 18%.
In a brief statement, Altice UK reiterated that it had no plans to make an offer for BT, whose shares fell after last week’s mixed results but are still up more than 30% this year.
Drahi’s investment vehicle first bought a 12% stake in BT in June 2021 and increased it to 18% later that year.
The UK government last year “called in” the investment to review its security implications under new national security laws, but decided in August to take no further action.