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Reliance Denies BT Interest as Takeover Speculation Mounts

Reliance Industries denied a report that it is weighing a possible offer for the U.K.’s biggest phone company, BT Group Plc.

Reliance Denies BT Interest as Takeover Speculation Mounts
A telecom tower. (Photographer: Susana Gonzalez/Bloomberg)

Reliance Industries denied a report that it is weighing a possible offer for the U.K.’s biggest phone company, BT Group Plc.

Reliance could make an unsolicited offer to buy into the company or move for a controlling stake with some strategic shareholders open to cashing out at the right price, according to the report by The Economic Times, citing people familiar with the matter it didn’t name.

But billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s company called the article “completely speculative” in an exchange filing Monday. BT shares advanced as much as 9.5% following the story before slightly paring gains. A BT spokesman declined to comment.

Read More: Reliance Weighs Bid for U.K.’s BT Group, Eco Times Reports

Separately, the Mail on Sunday reported private equity firms and investment funds are assessing BT’s infrastructure division Openreach at valuations as high as 40 billion pounds ($53 billion), citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. BT’s current market capitalization is 16.4 billion pounds. 

The speculation follows Altice, led by billionaire Patrick Drahi, acquiring a 12.1% stake in BT in June. A lock-up preventing Drahi, BT’s biggest shareholder, from pursuing a takeover ends next month.

Read More on BT’s Takeover Threats

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BT Builds Credit Takeover Defenses as Altice’s Drahi Circles

Takeover talk has increasingly surrounded BT in recent years. Last September the London-based carrier’s share price hit 11-year lows and that vulnerability had prompted the board to hire advisers. Private equity firms including CVC Capital Partners had studied the feasibility of a takeover, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Reliance previously weighed a bid for a different European carrier, T-Mobile Netherlands, Bloomberg reported in August. That group was ultimately bought by private equity firms Warburg Pincus LLC and Apax Partners LLP. 

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