Bloomberg reports that the operator has approached a handful of big-name global operators to explore potential partnerships that could see it selling a stake in its global business.
The talks are believed to be in the early stages, with no guarantee a deal will arise — but that didn’t stop its stock from rising by 0.52% to a year-high price as investors continue to back BT’s restructuring efforts.
BT’s CEO, Allison Kirkby, has been leading efforts to divest non-UK assets as it looks to shift its focus on the UK market.
Reports that BT was willing to listen to offers for its international division emerged back in November, with Verizon, Amazon, Microsoft, and a handful of private equity firms touted as potential buyers.
BT’s international business has considerably struggled of late, generating £2.4 billion in revenue in 2023 with £500 million in earnings with little to no cash flow.
Prior reporting also suggested BT could look to sell its international unit in several pieces.
As part of its ongoing streamlining efforts, BT brought in Jon James to lead a UK-focused BT Business in January — a move designed to allow BT Global Services CEO Bas Burger to concentrate on “optimising” the company’s international operations.
“We’re keeping everything open and this means we’ve been speaking to third parties about a range of possibilities,” a BT spokesperson told Bloomberg.
Beyond the proposed international sell-off, BT has already sold its stake in the startup Distributed and its Irish wholesale and enterprise business to Speed Fibre Group. The company has also struck an agreement with Equinix to sell its Irish data centre business.
Alongside divestments, BT also cut 2,000 jobs last November as part of a plan to downsize its workforce to between 75,000 and 90,000 employees by 2030.
Kikby’s efforts in BT have resulted in a meteoric stock price rise, jumping 13% this year, with senior executives onboard with the restructuring having recently reinvested dividends into company shares in an apparent show of confidence
The change of direction has also piqued the interest of Indian billionaire and Bharti Airtel founder Sunil Bharti Mittal, who is reportedly exploring increasing his 24.5% stake in BT.
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