By Catherine Reynolds
Investing.com -- BT Group (LON:BT) shares plunged on Tuesday as the market reacted sourly to news of Patrick Drahi raising his stake in the U.K. telecoms group.
The Franco-Israeli billionaire’s Altice U.K. increased its stake in BT to 18% from 12.1% to become its largest shareholder. But Drahi has refused to make a takeover offer for the company, disappointing the hopes of some investors who had expected a formal bid.
In a statement, the company said, “Altice U.K. has restated its position to the board of BT that it does not intend to make an offer for BT.”
Drahi insisted that he had engaged constructively with BT’s board and management and looked forward to continuing a dialogue with them.
BT said in a statement that it will “continue to operate the business in the interest of all shareholders and remains focused on the successful execution of its strategy and building on recent performance momentum.”
BT shares are currently trading roughly where they were at the start of the pandemic, but have lost nearly two-thirds of their value since peaking in 2015, due to the heavy cost of rolling out 5G infrastructure, and a widening deficit in its company pension plan.