- American Depositary Receipts of BT Group (LON:BT) (BT +0.3%), down as much as 1.3% earlier, have jumped back into positive ground after word that the incumbent British telecom is drawing interest in its Openreach fixed network.
- The network has been a political bone of contention, with rivals (particularly Vodafone (NASDAQ:VOD)) saying Openreach needs to be separated and/or regulated to provide an even playing field.
- British media regulator Ofcom pushed for a split of Openreach in fall 2016, though BT had dug in and said the unit needed to be left alone.
- Updated: Bloomberg reports that BT has gotten informal interest from private-equity and infrastructure investors, though deliberations are early stages and might not result in any deals. Under consideration are minority and majority stake purchases in the unit, which could be valued overall at £12.4B-£24.9B (up to $33B) -- a wide range consideration regulatory uncertainty.
- Now read: Why The Negativity Over Vodafone?
Original article