Shares in BT Group PLC (LSE:BT.A) fall almost 4% on reports that the government would seek to block Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal from increasing his stake in the telecoms group beyond 25%.
The Financial Times reported that officials would intervene on national security grounds if Mittal attempted to raise his holding further, citing concerns around maintaining sovereign control over “critical national infrastructure”.
Mittal’s Bharti Enterprises conglomerate became BT's largest shareholder late 2024, helped by buying a large stake from Patrick Drahi’s Altice group, and has since increased its holding to 24.95%, just below the threshold that would trigger a formal review under the National Security and Investment Act.
According to the FT report, officials in Westminster have privately made clear they would look to block any move above that level.
One government figure told the newspaper the issue reflected a broader focus on resilience and sovereign capability and was “not to do with Bharti or India specifically”.
BT owns Openreach, the broadband infrastructure business that provides fibre connections to more than 22 million UK homes.
Analysts said when the deal was first announced that they did not expect Bharti to launch a takeover bid for BT, citing the group’s sizeable debt burden and investment commitments tied to its UK fibre rollout.