Betaville Intelligence

UNCOOKED ALERT: BT Group said to... - Part 2

The mystery bidder circling BT Group's £20 billion Openreach division is rumoured to be working with investment banking advisers from JP Morgan on a potential approach.

Last week Betaville Intelligence revealed the FTSE 100-listed telecoms company is said to have drawn serious takeover interest in its Openreach division from a new suitor.

People following the situation said bankers from JP Morgan are working with the acquirer, which is rumoured to have placed a £20 billion valuation on Openreach.

In May the Financial Times reported that Macquarie, the Australian investment group, and a sovereign wealth fund had both indicated an interest in buying some or all of Openreach at a £20 billion valuation.

Macquarie subsequently played down any interest in buying Openreach.

The Sunday Telegraph later reported that the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, has been buying shares in BT Group on the open market.

The newspaper also claimed that the PIF and BT Group held talks earlier in the year about a potential issue of new shares to help fund the multibillion-pound rollout of full-fibre broadband across the country.

It's not clear, though, whether this new suitor has submitted a formal proposal to BT Group for Openreach, which maintains the UK's broadband network.

Readers should be aware that BT Group is expected to unveil figures at the end of the week.

A spokesperson for BT Group declined to comment.

To be clear, the above story is UNCOOKED. In case you don't remember I have pasted the definition of UNCOOKED below:

UNCOOKED: Market gossip as Betaville receives it. This scuttlebutt has just come in and hasn't been checked with all of Betaville's usually well-informed RARE sources let alone formal journalistic channels (public relations executives, bankers etc). The rumour might be total codswallop, nonsense or rubbish - but then again there may be something in it, so it's worth airing on Betaville...

Date: Tuesday, 28 July 2020, 2:43 pm

[Disclaimer - the information on Betaville does not consitute any form of investment recommendation and is not intended to be relied upon by readers in making, or refraining from, any investment decisions].

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