Last checked at 
(Adds Reliance statement)
LONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Shares in BT jumped as
much as 9% on Monday before sliding back, after India's Reliance
Industries denied a media report it was weighing a bid
for the British telecoms group.
The Economic Times said billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance
might make an unsolicited offer to buy into BT or try to get a
controlling share, citing sources familiar with the matter.
It said Reliance could also partner with BT's networks arm
Openreach and fund its fibre expansion plans.
But Reliance dismissed the report in a stock exchange
filing, saying: "We categorically deny any intent to bid for the
UK telecoms group BT. The article is completely speculative and
baseless."
In earlier trading, BT's shares had risen as much as 9%.
They were up 5.7% at 1027 GMT, following Reliance's statement.
Reliance was up 1.2% at 2,441 rupees.
The British company, whose shares have more than halved in
the last five years, was already the subject of takeover
speculation after Franco-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi
bought a 12.1% stake this year.
Drahi will be free to buy more of the British telecoms giant
on Dec. 11, having pledged in June he wouldn't launch a takeover
offer for the company - a statement that precluded him from
doing so for six months under British takeover rules.
($1 = 0.7500 pounds)
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Kate Holton and Edmund
Blair)
