London weighs in on Drahi’s stake in BT

May 26 (Reuters) – BT Group said on Thursday the British government would launch a formal investigation into the national security implications of Patrick Drahi’s increased stake in the telecoms operator.

BT said it would cooperate fully with this review.

Patrick Drahi, the founder of Altice, acquired 12.1% of the former telecoms monopoly in Great Britain last June and then increased his stake to 18% in December. He became BT’s largest shareholder.

The British government then declared in December that it “will not hesitate to act if necessary to protect our essential telecommunications infrastructure”.

BT shares lost more than 5% in early trading on the London Stock Exchange. (Report Aniruddha Ghosh in Bangalore, French version Bertrand Boucey)