French billionaire fancies a bigger stake in rocky BT

Patrick Drahi is considering raising his stake in BT for a fourth time, according to City sources.

The French billionaire already owns 24.5 per cent of the group through his French telecoms company Altice.

He is understood to be eyeing raising it to as much as 29.9 per cent – the highest level before a shareholder must make a formal offer to buy the company. This happens when an investor’s holding reaches 30 per cent.

Drahi, 59, has repeatedly said he does not wish to attempt to take over BT, which is worth £12.6 billion.

That is still the case, a source said.

But taking his stake above 25 per cent would trigger another investigation by the Government about whether his investment poses any threats to Britain’s security under a law called the National Security & Investment Act.

A review under the same law last year gave him the green light.

It comes weeks after BT’s chief executive, Philip Jansen, said he would step down from FTSE 100-listed BT within the next year.

The Mail on Sunday revealed days earlier that Jansen was ‘desperate’ to leave the group, which he has led since early 2019 and navigated through the pandemic.

The 56-year-old recently set out his long-term vision for the firm – which employs 130,000 – staff – outlining plans to cut up to 55,000 jobs by 2030, with many to be taken over by artificial intelligence.

His strategy also includes ploughing £15 billion into rolling out next-generation 5G mobile and full-fibre broadband across the UK.

Chairman Adam Crozier is expected to deliver an update on the hunt for Jansen’s successor later in the summer.

Drahi, who also owns auction house Sotheby’s, initially bought a 12 per cent stake in BT in 2021.

He raised this to 18 per cent a few months later.

Then, in May 2023, he hiked it to 24.5 per cent – despite making a loss on his holding after BT’s share price dropped.

It could be a tricky time for Casablanca-born Drahi to increase his stake in BT as Altice’s Portuguese division has been rocked by an investigation into alleged corruption, which has led it to suspend several managers.

Altice and BT – whose shares dropped two per cent on Friday – declined to comment.