UK government nod for Bharti's 25% stake buy in BT

NEW DELHI: The British govt on Monday approved Bharti Global's purchase of a 24.5% stake in London-listed BT, following a detailed national security assessment and assurances from the telecom company.

The purchase of the shares, worth 3.2 billion pounds, was made from the previous top investor, Patrick Drahi's Altice, under the terms set out by Bharti Global - the investment arm of Sunil Mittal's Bharti Enterprises - in Aug.

BT will establish a national security committee within the company to oversee "strategic work that it performs which has an impact on or is in respect of the national security" of the country, govt said in a statement.

Govt said the proposed measure would mitigate the risk to national security, given BT's role in supporting state initiatives in the telecommunications sector and in ensuring the country's cyber security.

BT also acts as a strategic supplier of services to many parts of govt, including services that are in support of UK national security, the statement added. In the Aug statement, Bharti had said it had no intention of making an offer to buy the whole company. Earlier, Mittal - the founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises - had said the group recognises the enormous potential through the BT investment.

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