Sunil Mittal’s JLR moment at BT isn’t likely any time soon – if at all

livemint.com:

After BT, Bharti may consider more opportunities in Europe Mittal also understands BT, given the long relationship between the two companies. BT held a 21% stake in Bharti Airtel and two board seats between 1997 and 2001. He also spends considerable time in the UK, where two of his children live.

Is this really Mittal’s JLR moment, though? For now, a full takeover doesn’t seem to be on the cards. Mittal is not taking a board seat at BT, and has said he has no intention of making a formal bid to acquire the company. “We have not asked for any board seat, we have not even applied our mind to that," he told the British financial press.

The terms of the Bharti-BT deal have not been disclosed but what is known is that under British rules, a full takeover could be challenged by regulators, according to a Financial Times report. Remember, BT retains roughly three-quarters of the UK telecom’s infrastructure through a subsidiary. In fact, the two-step transaction was completed after Bharti secured regulatory clearances, including a UK security clearance, which some newspapers say was undertaken voluntarily.

Also read | BT to expand India hub, develop premium 5G use cases: CDIO Harmeen Mehta BT is of course excited about the new, friendlier investor stepping in for the aggressive Drahi, who has built his empire on debt-powered deals and is now under pressure to sell his assets after running out of credit. Before Mittal stepped in, the risk was that Drahi would dump his BT stock in the market. The stock has recovered since Allison Kirby became CEO in February, but it remains 15% below where it was 15 years ago.