Carlos Slim buys another £175m slice of BT

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The move sees the billionaire’s total stake in the UK incumbent rise to 4.3%

This week, a regulatory filing has revealed that Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim has upped his stake in BT by 1.1% to 4.3%.

The £150 million investment comes via Slim’s family business Inbursa and related subsidiaries.

Slim first acquired a stake in BT back in June, spending around £400 million to buy a 3.2% stake.

At the time, analysts viewed the investment as a vote of confidence in BT’s new CEO Allison Kirkby, who had implemented a raft of cost-saving measures in the business since her inauguration in February.

The move supports analysts assessments that BT is undervalued, presenting an appetising investment opportunity to oversees firms.

In related news, last month Altice UK agreed to sell its 24.5% stake in BT to Indian telco giant Bharti Airtel.

Financial details of the move were not disclosed, but estimates suggest the deal is worth around £4 billion.

So far, a 10% stake has been transferred to Airtel, with the remainder to follow pending regulatory approval.

Altice had been notably struggling under the weight of almost $60 billion of debt and, with pending dept repayment deadlines, was in need of restructuring.

As a result of these deals and existing investments, more than 40% of BT is now owned by foreign investors.

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