Mexican tycoon Slim snaps up £400M stake in BT

Billionaire Carlos Slim acquired a 3 per cent stake in UK telecoms giant BT Group, joining other high-profile industry shareholders including Altice UK and Deutsche Telekom.

BT announced the position worth around £400 million in a statement, explaining it was taken by financial holding company Inbursa and its subsidiaries, which are owned by Slim and his family.

For a long time, Slim held the title of the world’s richest man after building up a fortune in the telecoms sector and controlling Mexico-based America Movil.

He is also no stranger to making investments in Europe, with America Movil previously acquiring stakes in KPN and Telekom Austria.

In a statement to Financial Times, BT said it welcomes “any investor who recognises the long-term value of our business” and it “looks forward to engaging with Inbursa, just as we do with all our investors”.

Notably, its other investors include French tycoon Patrick Drahi, with his Altice UK entity holding a 24.5 per cent stake in BT as of May 2023. It has almost double the stake of Deutsche Telekom, which is the next biggest investor in the company.

Kester Mann, director of consumer and connectivity at CCS Insight, said Slim’s investment was an endorsement of BT CEO Allison Kirkby’s recently announced strategy and gave the company good momentum.

Kirkby last month set a target of achieving £3 billion ($3.8 billion) in annual cost savings over the next five years, as part of her plans to turn around the operator.