French firm denies bid as it raises stake in BT to 24.5%
The Guardian|May 24, 2023
The French billionaire Patrick Drahi has increased his stake in BT to more than 24%, but reiterated that he does not intend to make a bid to take over the £15bn British telecoms group.
Mark Sweney
French firm denies bid as it raises stake in BT to 24.5%

Drahi, who had control of an 18% stake through his subsidiary Altice UK, raised that position to 24.5% yesterday. His purchase of 650m shares cost about £960m, at BT's share price of 147.85p at the close of trading on Monday.

The move comes days after BT announced a huge restructure to become a "leaner business" that will result in the workforce being cut by as much as 55,000 by 2030.

The headcount reduction will come from a combination of natural attrition, cutting contractors at the end of the build phase of extending fibre broadband and 5G mobile networks nationwide, and a move into AI that could replace about 10,000 jobs.

This story is from the May 24, 2023 edition of The Guardian.

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This story is from the May 24, 2023 edition of The Guardian.

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