logo-loader

BT Group brings in bankers as it looks to sell off troubled Italian business

Published: 10:23 25 Jun 2018 BST

bt headquarters
The sale of BT Italia isn’t expected to bring in much money for the telecoms giant

Telecoms giant BT Group plc (LON:BT.A) is looking to rid itself of its scandal-hit Italian business, according to reports over the weekend.

The discovery of deep-rooted accounting fraud in the division sent BT’s stock into a malaise from which it still hasn’t recovered. It also signalled the beginning of the end for the company’s chief executive Gavin Patterson, who stepped down from his position two weeks ago.

The Telegraph reported on Saturday that investment bankers at Credit Suisse have been appointed to “drum up interest” in BT Italia from Vodafone PLC (LON:VOD) and Fastweb, the Italian subsidiary of Swiss telecoms firm Swisscom.

READ: BT rallies as Jefferies upgrades to 'buy'

The sale is not expected to provide “significant proceeds” for BT, though, given that it wrote down the value of the business to zero in the wake of the accounting scandal.

Still, BT is said to see the disposal as a crucial step in its efforts to simplify and modernise its structure.

The newspaper added that BT is also exploring the possibility of selling off some of its other overseas businesses, including its more profitable Japanese and German businesses as well as its Spanish and Latin American assets.

Shares were up slightly to 219p on Monday morning.

Caledonia Mining tackles 2023 challenges with optimism for 2024 as it...

Caledonia Mining Corporation PLC (AIM:CMCL, NYSE-A:CMCL) chief executive Mark Learmonth tells Proactive's Stephen Gunnion the company faced a challenging 2023, primarily due to poor production in the first half of the year at its core asset, the Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe, and an underperformance...

48 minutes ago