Bharti Global struck a deal with Altice to acquire its 24.5 per cent stake in BT Group, a move which CEO Allison Kirkby claimed backs her long-term strategy and provides a vote of confidence in the UK telecoms giant.

The value of the deal was undisclosed, but it would have been worth £3.2 billion based on BT’s closing stock market price on Friday (9 August). The Indian conglomerate will take a 10 per cent stake immediately, and the remaining amount will have to be cleared by regulators.

If approved, it will give Bharti founder Sunil Mittal a major holding in the UK telecoms market and adds to an investment in UK space player OneWeb.

Bharti Global is an affiliate of Bharti Enterprises, which owns operator Airtel in India.

In a call about the deal, Mittal declared he has no intention of launching a bid to buy out the rest of BT, stating it was a “long-term telecom investor” and it was not in it to make a quick buck. “This is not a stock market operation”, he said.

Mittal added he supported BT’s management and strategy, but added the company could be bolder, while suggesting its fibre rollout could be quicker.

In a BT statement, Kirkby welcomed Bharti as an investor, adding the scale of investment “is a great vote of confidence in the future of BT Group and our strategy”.

Bharti Global joins Deutsche Telekom and a holding company owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim as high-profile industry shareholders in BT.

For Altice and its billionaire owner Patrick Drahi, the sale of the stake – which it has held since May 2023 – represents the latest move to dispose of assets in attempts to pay down a debt load of more than €60 billion.

Earlier this year, it agreed a deal to sell its media business in France and it has also put its Portuguese unit up for sale.