The Telegraph reports that BT is on “high alert” and has “intensified work” with Goldman Sachs and Robey Warshaw to put together a defence against any takeover bid.
The news comes after it was revealed that Philip Jansen would be stepping down as CEO of the company.
Deutsche Telekom could be looking to capitalise on this move; however, Marc Allera is already being viewed by insiders as a ready successor.
Earlier this year, Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges revealed that he regretted a 2015 deal that saw the company take a £5.6 billion stake in BT.
“I want my money back,” said Höttges. “It was too early, and I didn’t understand all of the obstacles around BT.”
He had previously defended his decision to take shares in BT in exchange for Deutsche Telekom’s 50% stake in EE.
BT shares plummeted last year following the announcement that the billionaire owner of Altice Patrick Drahi had increased his stake in the company from 12% to 18%.
That acquisition was the subject of a probe from the UK government, but that probe resulted in no action taken.
The UK government said in a statement at the time that It would “always act to protect the UK’s critical national telecoms infrastructure if we judge action is necessary”.
Altice is currently the largest shareholder in BT after raising its stake once again from 18% to 24.5% in May. Again, the UK government took no action against this move.
Capacity will have more on this story as it develops.
