Telecoms and broadband giant BT Group has reportedly begun the process of making their ‘Global’ division available for sale, either in whole or in pieces. The international arm of the business, which is overseen by Business CEO Bas Burger, typically sells internet, phone and other business solutions to over 1,000 multinational corporate clients worldwide.
According to This is Money, BT Global has suffered a fall in profitability over recent years and is claimed to be difficult to value, with the division generating around £2.4bn in revenue last year and £500m in earnings, but little cash flow (they sell a lot of legacy services that aren’t super profitable). BT’s CEO, Allison Kirkby, is said to now be strongly in favour of selling the business, which is an approach that has been on the cards as one potential option since earlier this year.
Industry analysts have previously pointed toward several potential suitors, such as US rival Verizon, as well as technology giants like Amazon and Microsoft. But it could also be sold in pieces, with some reports indicating that Macquarie-backed Viatel was sniffing around BT Ireland, while Telecom Italia is said to have expressed an interest in the remnants of BT’s Italian business. BT said: ‘It could be one transaction, whichever option maximises value.’
The sale of their global division would no doubt help to support the operator’s UK plans, such as with their ongoing roll-out of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband technology across the UK and their related deployments of 5G based mobile networks for EE.