Piyush Goyal says “circle is full” as Bharti Enterprises takes stake in BT Group

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said hours after Bharti Global acquired a 24.5 per cent stake in Britain’s BT Group from Altice UK that the circle has now come full circle.

British Telecom acquired a 21 percent stake in Bharti Airtel in 1997. BT Group is Britain’s leading fixed and mobile communications provider.

“This acquisition is a testament to India’s growing strength as we march towards a developed India under the inspiring leadership of PM Modi ji,” Goyal wrote on X.

“We thank UK Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer and Foreign Secretary @DavidLammy for their continued support in strengthening trading ties between our two countries.”

The Minister also congratulated Sunil Bharti Mittal, Rajan Bharti Mittal and Rakesh Bharti Mittal of Bharti Enterprises for this significant achievement.

In a press conference soon after the announcement, Sunil Bharti Mittal said that with a 24.5 per cent stake, he/she has become the largest shareholder in the prestigious company.

“And as you know, this is a very large block. If you go back in time, Singtel bought this much stock in our company. BT bought 21 per cent in 97. So these are very strategic blocks which are seen as blocks with large shareholder participation. And that is what we want to retain at this point in time,” Mittal told reporters at a press conference.

Without disclosing the size of the purchase, Mittal says that this is a very attractive purchase because UK and European telecom companies are trading at low multiples, so this will be a very good investment in the long run. The size of the company is 21 billion pounds and sales revenue is about 25 billion US dollars.

Mittal said the investment will not have any direct impact on the company’s telecom operations in India, but sharing of best practices is always possible.

Indian businesses were under pressure but with tariff hikes, government support and 5G launches it has done remarkably well. Bharti is now ready to invest after a long gap after the Africa acquisition.

Mittal said though there are no plans for global expansion, the possibility cannot be ruled out.