Orange is now free to sell its 4 per cent stake in UK incumbent BT after the expiry of a lock-in period imposed as part of the sale of its stake in EE.

The terms of the agreement meant Orange was tied into retaining its BT Group share for 12 months after the completion of the deal – a clause which expired on 29 January 2017. However, since the EE sale closed, BT’s share price had been steadily falling before taking a 21 per cent hit in late January following a profit warning caused by a £530 million black hole in the accounts of its Italian unit.

At the point of the EE sale, BT estimated Orange’s stake was worth £1.7 billion. The figure at the time of writing had fallen by around 27 per cent.

Orange received a total of £3.44 billion in cash and a 4 per cent stake in BT Group for its share in EE. Fellow JV partner Deutsche Telekom took a share-only deal equating to a 12 per cent stake in BT Group, negotiated with a longer lock-in period of 18 months.

Although tied in until late July 2017, rumours emerged in November 2016 Deutsche Telekom was considering offloading its stake in BT, depending on the terms of the agreement the UK struck on its exit from the EU.

Further uncertainty
While BT’s share price looked to have stabilised in the days following its profit warning, financial newspapers suggest there may be further problems ahead for BT with investors concerned about its pension deficit and slowdown in its public sector business.

The company may also find its finances hit later this year by a bidding war with UK satellite company Sky over the contract for TV rights covering Champions’ League football matches. According to The Guardian, competition organiser UEFA believes a new three-year deal should fetch £1.2 billion compared with its last deal of £900 million.