The UK government is set to oppose any move by billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal to raise his stake in British telecom major BT beyond 25%, according to people familiar with the matter cited by the Financial Times.
The reported stance stems from concerns over maintaining sovereign control of critical national infrastructure, particularly BT's broadband arm Openreach, which provides fibre connectivity to more than 22 million homes across Britain.
Mittal's Bharti Enterprises became BT's largest shareholder after acquiring Patrick Drahi's stake in 2024. The conglomerate currently holds 24.95% in the telecom group, just below the threshold that would trigger a formal government review and approval process.
British officials have indicated that any attempt to move beyond the 25% mark would likely be blocked. "It's not to do with Bharti or India specifically, it's a matter of keeping critical national infrastructure in sovereign UK control for obvious reasons," a British government figure told the Financial Times.
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The development also weighed on BT Group shares. According to Proactive, the stock fell nearly 4% after reports emerged that the UK government was preparing to restrict Bharti Enterprises from increasing its ownership further.
The concerns are linked largely to Openreach's strategic importance to Britain's digital infrastructure and broader issues around resilience and national security, rather than objections targeted specifically at Bharti Enterprises or India, the report added.
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