BT Venturing – Page 4
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M&A
BT Italia offloads SAP services subsidiary
BT Global continues ‘global not national’ streamlining programme with the sale of Italian IT outsourcing outfit ERPTech. €4m+ deal leaves Italia lightweight but focused.
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Venturing & Investments
BT opens venturing wallet for on-demand talent pool startup
Startup acceleration ambition kickstarted with minority stake in Distributed. New acquisition to provide BT access to on-demand software engineering teams to support development projects, with connected healthcare solutions first up. BT’s Harmeen Mehta hopes such partnerships will alleviate skills shortage pressures and drive her digitalisation agenda.
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M&A
Discovery JV: BT Sport to be unbundled from BT
Another twist to the tale as BT and Discovery enter exclusive discussions. Jansen indicates agreement encompasses Eurosport UK and ‘Discovery app’, hinting at sports content tie-up; says deal has “no downsides”. The move could be a huge blow to DAZN, which appeared to have secured an $800m buyout.
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Partnerships & Alliances
BT ties with SES on ‘multi-orbit’ data and IoT
Global division looking to satcomms to expand mining sector presence and boost search for growth. Tie-up bridges various in-vogue areas of enterprise IoT, satellite, not-spot coverage, and cloud productised services. Deal appears precursor to broader revamp of BT’s ecosystem at intersection of wireless and satcomms.
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M&A
DAZN retakes lead in BT Sport race
Sports streaming specialist in pole position to land $800m deal. Discovery JV still a possibility, but cash injection may be preferable as BT invests in 5G and fibre rollouts.
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Partnerships & Alliances
BT joins industry bodies in health-tech drive
Operator added to Health Tech Alliance and The Kings Fund as part of effort to expand in the industry through collaboration. Health a sector of interest to CEO Jansen amid BT Enterprise resurgence.
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M&A
Defences up as Drahi increases BT stake
Patrick Drahi’s Altice UK stops short of a takeover bid, but increases holding to 18%. UK government issues warning that it “will not hesitate” to protect national interests amid concerns of foreign investment in critical infrastructure incumbent. Takeover not Drahi’s ‘intention’, but caveats are in place.
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M&A
Will Drahi come knocking on BT’s door?
Six months on from French billionaire’s surprise raid on BT, Altice UK now free to up its stake or mount a takeover bid. Jansen called in for meeting with UK government minister to get the lowdown on Drahi’s intentions.
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M&A
BT Sport mulls Discovery JV as DAZN buyout stalls
Discovery in talks with BT over sports broadcasting partnership. Deal would offer strong alternative to DAZN’s £600m buyout attempt.
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M&A
Reliance denies interest in acquiring BT stake
BT share price jumps on report that Indian conglomerate eyeing a move for UK incumbent. Reliance quick to dismiss the article as “completely speculative and baseless”, but City still excited.
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Partnerships & Alliances
BT renews Middle Eastern partnerships
Long-running R&D tie-up gets extended, with BT’s engagement with Etisalat and Khalifa University stretching a further five years. BT Applied Research MD Tim Whitley among those involved.
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Partnerships & Alliances
BT’s McRae fights corner for Nordic giants, as peers swing for Eur-O-RAN
BT Chief Architect highlights value of local major NEPs, as European peers promote greater supply chain diversification. Remarks follow McRae support for Ericsson foray into open RAN orchestration. BT committed to open RAN as part of opportunity to ‘network-ify’ applications and functions in new markets. Analysys Mason-backed report highlights ...
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Venturing & Investments
Höttges: “All options open” for BT stake
Patrick Drahi free to make bigger move on BT from 11 December. French billionaire is planning to increase BT stake, reports Reuters. Sources say any move likely to involve DT. Höttges keeps cards close to chest.
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Partnerships & Alliances
BT Group appoints pensions advisory partner
XPS Pensions Group will support BT’s established in-house team.
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Partnerships & Alliances
UK telcos face missing out on Horizon Europe funding
Political brinkmanship between London and Brussels threatens access to €95.5bn R&D pot. UK preps Discovery Fund as alternative, but unlikely to match largesse of Horizon Europe.
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Venturing & Investments
BT forms team to target strategic startup investments
Group getting back in funding game, focusing on startups in North America and Europe. New Digital division’s focus on platforms and partnerships at centre of push.
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M&A
DAZN targets Premier League with BT Sport bid — reports
Reports indicate BT is in “advanced” stage talks with DAZN to offload BT Sport, with a deal mooted “within weeks”. Broadcasting rights the big-ticket item for US streaming specialist, while BT looks to focus efforts on network expansion.
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Partnerships & Alliances
Arqit CEO lets slip mixed feelings about BT links
Startup boss concedes that its partner is also a QKD competitor, which “changes the addressable market somewhat”. He also tellingly describes BT as “very cautious” at a time when terrestrial QuantumCloud on cusp of commercial rollout.
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M&A
CityFibre eyes fresh cash injection
Press reports suggest Openreach challenger will announce fresh funds through stake sale and bond issue.
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M&A
Höttges “ready” for Drahi tête-à-tête after BT raid
DT confirms Altice’s secretive acquisition of a large BT holding went unflagged. Group “open” to discussions and sees prospect of “exciting” developments towards end of 2021. DT accentuates lack of pressure to sell up, should Altice target its holding.