LONDON (dpa-AFX) - BT Group Plc (BT.L) is in talks to sell a multi-billion pound stake in its Openreach division to infrastructure investors. The potential stake sale could value the unit at about 20 billion pounds, the Financial Times reported citing people familiar with the matter.
Selling a stake in the subsidiary that runs Britain's broadband network would help fund a upgrade to ultrafast fibre to millions of homes.
Potential buyers, including Australian bank Macquarie and a sovereign wealth fund, have held talks with BT in the past three weeks, the reports said.
Talks are at an early stage and the mechanism by which investors would buy a stake in Openreach remains under discussion.
BT reportedly considered spinning off its network division more than a decade ago but decided the business remained more valuable as a whole. It also resisted approaches from financial investors targeting Openreach in 2018.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2020 AFX News
