French Billionaire’s stake in BT faces security probe
 

[The government is to examine
French billionaire Patrick Drahi's
increased stake in BT over
national security concerns,
the telecoms giant has said.
Mr Drahi's company, Altice, increased
its investment from 12% to 18%
in December, prompting speculation
the firm could face a takeover bid.

The business secretary will now
probe the move using
new powers under the
National Security and Investment Act.

BT said it would co-operate with the review.

In a statement, BT said that
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng was
exercising his "call-in power" under the
National Security and Investment Act 2021.

The new legislation came into force
earlier this year, giving the government
powers to scrutinise, impose conditions on,
or block acquisitions on national security grounds.

BT is in the middle of a
transformational programme to
build a national broadband fibre network,
a strategy crucial both to the company
and the government, which says it wants
to boost regional growth.
Shares in BT fell more
than 4% in morning trading in London.]


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61590960

[Who is Patrick Drahi?

Born in Morocco to a Jewish family in 1963
French, Israeli and Portuguese citizenship
Based in Switzerland
Founded Altice, a French multinational telecoms group
Owns Sotheby's auction house
Worth $6.7bn (£5.3bn), and is one of the
world's top 400 billionaires, according to Forbes]


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