The British government announced on May 26 to examine the capital increase of Altice, owner of SFR, within British Telecom Plc (BT), the Anglo-Saxon telecommunications giant. The objective of this investigation is to ensure that this trade agreement does not threaten the national security of the United Kingdom.
UK regulators are investigating
Last December, Patrick Drahi, founding chairman of Altice, revealed his intention to acquire more shares of BT. SFR’s parent company had already obtained 12.1% of its capital in June 2021, making it BT’s largest shareholder. If the agreement is validated by the British government, its shares will then rise to 18%.
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In order to study in depth the impact of this commercial agreement on the country’s national security, the British government called upon the National Security and Investment Act. Passed at the beginning of the year, this law gives the Anglo-Saxon authorities the power to intervene in commercial transactions likely to threaten the integrity of the territory.
The British telecommunications operator, BT, has noted that proceedings against Altice have been initiated by Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The group adds that it will cooperate fully with this examination “.
Altice is not the UK government’s only target. Kwasi Kwarteng said on Twitter the launch of a similar procedure towards the acquisition, which took place in July 2021, of the Welsh semiconductor company Newport Wafer Fab by the Chinese group Wingtech.
UK fears for its technological sovereignty
The UK is plagued by fears for its “technological sovereignty”. In recent years, the country has allowed some tech giants to be taken over by foreign buyers. In 2016, Japan’s SoftBank bought Cambridge-based chip designer ARM for $31.4 billion. Two years earlier, it was the giant Google which bought the Deep Mind laboratory, specialized in artificial intelligence, for 600 million dollars.
According to The echoes, Patrick Drahi assured not wanting to launch a takeover bid (OPA) on BT. He would have to obtain the 12% stake in Deutsche Telekom, the second shareholder, to obtain 30% of the shares and be forced to trigger a takeover bid.
Regulators are wary of the situation. The British market prohibits the launch of an offer for a period of six months after the last capital increase. If the commercial agreement established in December is validated, Altice could attempt a takeover bid on BT by the middle of June.