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Sorry
Not SURE I want to suggest anything else on a public forum.
I assume casapinos is a ‘distressed buyer’ or …….? Not I want to suggest anything else on a public forum.
Thanks for the update but whether it’s in the pension fund does not alter the fact that DT can’t and won’t sell their position as a ‘distressed seller’.
That is absolutely absurd.
Rock & Kel, I believe DT have placed the BT holding in their pension scheme. So probably happy to hold until they get what they believe it’s worth.
100% agree Rock. Why on earth would DT sell at a significant loss for ‘further acquisitions’ when its investment in BT is likely to yield significant medium-term growth?
Absolute tosh
You start with “DT may well be willing to dispose of their stake at market price or less” - an absolutely mind bogglingly ridiculous statement!
I gave you the benefit of just being an upset shorter but maybe…..?
Rock.... I am a long term investor here and if you could understand my previous post it was broadly positive for BT. If you care to explain what you failed to understand I will clarify.If you choose to do some research I offer you this: https://newsroom.bt.com/bt-announces-triennial-pension-valuation/
Casapinos
I just assume you are short and finding these reports distressing?
casalinos
I have never been force to say this before BUT what a load of tosh!
Absolute tosh.
Two points, first that DT may well be willing to dispose of their stake at market price or less, to another buyer, whether that be Drahi or AN other , the reason being that to dispose in the market would drive the market down and a persistent high volume seller like DT would crater the SP long before they had unloaded. For DT accepting a loss and moving on and using the cash for other acquisitions might be tolerable.
Second point in ref to fleccys's "and the pension bought out by the trustees", it is worth noting that the long term element of current pension fixing plan is secured against the revenue stream of EE and shares in "EE limited " are offered as security.
The remaining (much larger sum) being guaranteed is to be held in an ABF(asset backed funding) arrangement which will AIUI be jointly owned by BT and the pension fund and will require BT to pay only £10 mill directly to the PF, the rest into the ABF, with the prospect that , if the PF is solvent in the longer term, the residue will be returned to BT. The upshot of all this is that IMV the pension deficit presents a much smaller impediment to break up than it did before. Whether that is coincidental , or indicates BT reorganisng its finances to facilitate an internally planned restructure is interesting.
Not less than GBP 2.50 but more for sure
"Drahi will be able to put the BT Board under a huge amount of pressure, and it could at least result in Openreach being spun off"
I have no doubt that Openreach will eventually be partially, or completely, spun off, but not until the FTTP rollout's completed, and the pension bought out by the trustees; I suspect the conditions will be right in the next 6 to 10 years.
Well even short of a bid at this stage, if Drahi does a deal with DT and acquires their shares, Drahi will be able to put the BT Board under a huge amount of pressure, and it could at least result in Openreach being spun off
at what price will be dt wiling to sell ???
Don't think so, just a purchase of DT shares
In a nutshell a bid is coming
The tycoon — who has engaged Flint Global, the advisor consultancy co-founded by Ed Richards, the former boss of Ofcom, and Sir Simon Fraser, a former permanent secretary at the department for business, — publicly stated his “full support” for BT’s strategy and has met Kwarteng. He said that he understood the expansion of the broadband network was “one of the UK government’s most important policy objectives”.
Adam Crozier, 57, the former chief executive of Royal Mail and ITV whose first formal day as BT’s new chairman coincided with Wednesday’s manifesto event, listened to the presentations from BT’s senior executives, including Clive Selley, chief executive of Openreach, but did not attend a drinks and canapés reception afterwards.
Jansen and BT’s investor relations team are understood to have presented their strategy to Drahi and his team in a meeting at the London office of one of its advisory banks in the autumn.
Drahi, who has a reputation for aggressive cost-cutting in acquired businesses, is thought to believe that Britain is now one of Europe’s most pro-investment network environments, after securing a pivotal agreement in March with Ofcom, and that BT is undervalued. He is said to view BT as a long-term investment.
Although BT has bolstered its defences, it is not said to be in a heightened state. There is, according to a source, a view that having picked BT up off its knees: “Why would you give it away now?”
On the wall of staircases heading out of BT’s new office reads the message: “Good things are coming.” After difficult years and with uncertainty still ahead, BT’s management will be hoping that at last is the case.
‘Get set for more M&A in telecoms’
The European telecoms market is set to deliver record levels of mergers and acquisitions next year, according to analysts at JP Morgan, BT’s joint house broker.
They said that with valuations at record lows, “we are seeing a scaling wave of private equity buyouts and infrastructure deals”.
Stock market investors struggled with a “buy case” based on the belief that fibre capital expenditure would “roll-off” in the medium term, supporting an “explosion in industry cashflows”, they said, but private equity buyers and infrastructure funds “seem to be closing the duration gap”. They said that “key plays” included BT, Vodafone and Vantage Towers, its infrastructure company.
In recent years 14 telecoms companies have been taken private, including TalkTalk