Patrick Drahi’s Altice lifts stake in BT to almost 25%

Patrick Drahi’s telecoms investment group has lifted its stake in BT to almost 25 per cent just days after the UK group announced its most radical cost-cutting drive in decades.

Altice UK, the vehicle controlled by billionaire Drahi, said on Tuesday that it had lifted its stake in the former UK monopoly to 24.5 per cent from 18 per cent.

In a short statement, Altice UK reiterated that it had no plans to make an offer for BT, whose share price dipped following a mixed set of results last week but remains up more than 30 per cent this year.

Drahi’s investment vehicle first bought a 12 per cent stake in BT in June 2021, increasing it to 18 per cent later that year.

The UK government “called in” the investment to examine its security implications under its new national security law last year, but decided to take no further action in August.