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BT in Talks to Hire Worldpay's Jansen as CEO, Sky Reports

BT in Talks to Hire Worldpay's Jansen as CEO, Sky Reports

(Bloomberg) -- BT Group Plc is in advanced talks to name Worldpay Inc.’s joint chief executive officer, Philip Jansen, as its next CEO, Sky News reported Saturday, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

Jansen has yet to formally accept the role but is expected to do so, Sky said. A spokeswoman for BT said the company doesn’t comment on speculation. If talks with Jansen are unsuccessful, other candidates include Olaf Swantee, the former head of BT’s mobile communications unit EE, and Dominique Leroy, the CEO of Proximus SADP, according to Sky.

BT in Talks to Hire Worldpay's Jansen as CEO, Sky Reports

Jansen headed the former Worldpay Group Plc and oversaw its $10.4-billion sale to U.S.-based Vantiv Inc. last year, with the combined company taking the British firm’s name. He plans to step down at the end of 2018. Shares in the online payments processor have gained more than 30 percent this year.

A phone message and emails seeking comment from Andrew Ciafardini, a spokesman for Worldpay, weren’t immediately returned.

The next leader of BT, the world’s oldest phone company, will need to juggle demands on the company’s cash ranging from dividends to a government push to spend more on faster broadband. The stock is near a six-year low, with its previous gains under departing CEO Gavin Patterson erased following conflicts with regulators, an Italian accounting scandal and a lackluster profit outlook.

--With assistance from Matthew Miller.

To contact the reporters on this story: Christopher Kingdon in London at ckingdon@bloomberg.net;Agnieszka de Sousa in London at atroszkiewic@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sonali Pathirana at spathirana@bloomberg.net, Keith Campbell, Jon Menon

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