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☆ India's Bharti to buy Drahi's stake in BT, worth $4 billion
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

India's Bharti Enterprises said it would acquire a 24.5% stake in BT , worth about 3.2 billion pounds ($4 billion), buying out the British company's top investor, telecoms tycoon Patrick Drahi, as his Altice group struggles with high debts. The Indian company said it would buy an initial 9.99% stake before seeking to add the remaining 14.51% following regulatory approvals. Bharti said it supported BT's executive team and strategy as the group pushed forward with an "ambitious" transformation programme to deliver long-term sustainable growth. BT's shares have risen by 24% in the last six months as the fruits of its long-term investment plan to build the country's fibre network start to materialise. "This scale of investment from Bharti Global is a great vote of confidence in the future of BT Group and our strategy," Kirkby said in a statement following the investment.

Persons: India's, Patrick Drahi, Bharti, Drahi, Carlos Slim, Allison Kirkby, Kirkby Organizations: India's Bharti Enterprises, BT, UK National Security and Investment, Bharti Global, BT Group Locations: Abu Dhabi

☆ Sotheby’s expands Hong Kong footprint with cavernous new exhibition and retail space
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Oscar Holland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —A fossilized mammoth skull, centuries-old ceramics and Banksy’s famous self-shredding painting are among hundreds of high-value collectibles on show at Sotheby’s ambitious new retail outpost in Hong Kong. With younger collectors seemingly in mind, items on the first floor range in price from 5,000 to 50 million Hong Kong dollars ($640 to $6.4 million). The venture is the latest signal that major auction houses still consider Hong Kong to be their long-term hub in Asia. In June, Hermès also unveiled its expanded retail space in the neighborhood. It has simultaneously sought to grow its footprint in Hong Kong — not only with its newly unveiled Maison, but also a nearby 36,000-square-foot regional headquarters, due to open later this year.

Persons: Maison, Hong Kong, Art Basel’s, Isaac Lawrence, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Sotheby’s, Patrick Drahi, Hong Kong —, Christie’s, Zaha Hadid’s, Phillips, Bonhams, Nathan Drahi Organizations: CNN, Hong Kong, UBS, Art, Art Basel, Getty, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Louis, Sotheby’s Locations: Hong Kong, Central, Asia, China, Hong, Hong Kong's Central, AFP, London, Singapore, Shanghai, Sotheby’s, Sotheby’s Asia, Paris, New York

☆ Outbrain is closing in on a deal to merge with Altice-owned adtech company Teads
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-19 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewContent recommendation firm Outbrain is closing in on a deal to acquire or merge with Teads, the adtech company owned by European telecommunications giant Altice, according to four sources familiar with the matter. Spokespeople for Outbrain and Teads said it was company policy not to comment on M&A speculation. Teads parent company Altice International reported net debt of 9.2 billion euros, around $10 billion, at the end of the first quarter, while Altice France had some 24 billion euros, about $26 billion, in debt in the same period. AdvertisementTeads reported 601 million euros ($654 million) in revenue in 2023, down 5.5% from the prior year. Its adjusted earnings before income tax depreciation and amortization were 157 million euros ($170 million), an 8.7% decrease from 2022.

Persons: —, Outbrain, couldn't, Teads, it's, Taboola, Patrick Drahi, pare, Altice, Moody's, Morgan Stanley Organizations: Service, Business, Altice, chum, CNN, Fox News, Altice International, Drahi Locations: Altice France, USA, France

An advertising board is seen during the first demonstration of the technology 5G in Lisbon, Portugal June 4, 2018. The review by the banks, including Lazard, BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, will involve some of Altice's major assets in the region, including SFR, France's second-biggest telecoms group, the person said. Altice, Morgan Stanley and BNP declined to comment, while spokespeople for Lazard and Goldman Sachs weren't immediately available for comment. Drahi told investors in August he felt "shocked" and "betrayed" by the ongoing corruption probe in Portugal, which led to the suspension of fifteen employees in Portugal, France and the United States and dozens of suppliers. Altice is already close to a deal to sell its data centres in France to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, French newspaper Les Echos reported on Wednesday.

Persons: Rafael Marchante, Altice, Lazard, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, France's, Goldman Sachs weren't, Patrick Drahi, Armando Pereira, Drahi, Les Echos, Mathieu Rosemain, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, BNP, Lazard, Altice, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, Thomson Locations: Lisbon, Portugal, Dominican Republic, Altice France, France, United States

Assets will be sold within Altice France or outside France to repay debt, Drahi told investors on a conference call. "(The aims is) to raise, one way or another, 3 billion (euros) of equity, plus or minus," Drahi said. Altice France's net leverage ratio at end of June was 6.3 times its yearly core operating profits. Altice France's net debt was close to 24 billion euros at the end of June, up from 23.6 billion at end of March, the group said. Total earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to 1.02 billion euros from 1.08 billion euros a year earlier.

Persons: Patrick Drahi, Philippe Wojazer, Drahi, Dennis Okhuijsen, Altice, Portugal Altice's, Armando Pereira, Pereira, Mathieu Rosemain, Ingrid Melander, Silvia Aloisi, Mark Potter Organizations: Altice Group, REUTERS, Altice, Thomson Locations: Franco, Israeli, Paris, France, PARIS, Altice France, Portugal

☆ Altice’s beaten-up debt is only a bet for the bold
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Pamela Barbaglia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

REUTERS/Violeta Santos MouraLONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Altice’s debt is a bet for the bold. Patrick Drahi’s telecoms group is sitting on a $60 billion debt burden, and faces rising borrowing costs and a corruption investigation. Drahi will therefore need to sell assets to cut debt, which starts to come due in 2025. Both Altice France and Altice International are trying to sell their data centre businesses, which could raise some 700 million euros, bankers say. Yet Altice France alone has some $19 billion of debt coming due by 2029.

Persons: Patrick Drahi, Violeta Santos Moura, Patrick Drahi’s, Drahi –, Armando Pereira, Altice, Drahi, “, ”, Pereira, Xavier Niel’s, Manuel Magalhaes e Silva, Altice International’s, Alexandre Fonseca, Neil Unmack, Oliver Taslic Organizations: French, REUTERS, Violeta Santos Moura LONDON, Reuters, Altice USA, Altice, Bouygues Telecom, Banco Espírito Santo, Public, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, Moroccan, Europe, United States, Portugal, Israel, Dominican Republic, Orange, Altice France, Banco Espírito, Portuguese, New York, London

Fifteen employees have been put on leave in Portugal, France and the United States since news broke about the probe, which is currently limited to Portugal, said Drahi. Pressed by analysts on the call to lay out the role and extent of Pereira's involvement within the Altice group, Drahi said Pereira, whom he hired in 2003, had not held any stake in any Altice entity since 2005. Altice International, the entity that owns telecoms firm PT Portugal, is owned by Drahi's personal holding Next. The other two entities are Altice USA and Altice France, home to France's second biggest telecoms firm SFR. The debt has come under further pressure since Pereira's July detention, with longer-term debt issued by Altice France trading around 80 cents to the euro while those of Altice France Holding trade around 40 cents to the euro.

Persons: Patrick Drahi, Violeta Santos Moura, Drahi, Armando Pereira, Pereira, Altice, Mathieu Rosemain, Yoruk Bahceli, Ingrid Melander, Silvia Aloisi, Conor Humphries Organizations: French, REUTERS, Altice, PT Portugal, Altice International, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, Portugal, United States, Altice France

☆ Factbox: Patrick Drahi, the telco tycoon facing debt woes, arrest of aide
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

* Drahi, who lives between Switzerland, the United States and Israel, controls France's second-biggest telecoms firm SFR on top of the most-watched news channel in the country, BFM TV. He also owns the largest telecoms firm in Portugal. * To ease investor concerns about the sustainability of the business, Drahi spun off the U.S. division, restructured debt and took the European arm private. * By 2023, Altice's combined debt, including its three units of Altice France, Altice International and Altice USA stood at around $60 billion. Altice's debt prices trade at stressed levels, having come under further pressure since Pereira's detention in July.

Persons: Patrick Drahi, Violeta Santos Moura, Altice, Drahi, Altice's, Armando Pereira, Pereira, Silvia Aloisi, Ingrid Melander, Sharon Singleton, Louise Heavens Organizations: French, REUTERS, Polytechnique, SFR, U.S ., Altice, Altice USA, BT, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, French, Israeli, Morocco, Drahi, Amsterdam, Belgium, Portugal, Israel, United States, Dominican Republic, Switzerland, London, New York

☆ New BT boss’s biggest test is investor relations
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 31 (Reuters Breakingviews) - BT’s (BT.L) board faced the challenge of hiring a new CEO willing to implement a turnaround strategy decided by their predecessor. It has solved that problem by appointing one of its own members, Allison Kirkby, to the post vacated by outgoing Philip Jansen. Shares in the Swedish telco sank 4% on news of her departure, suggesting Telia’s loss is a gain for BT. Kirkby won’t take over until January 2024 but, having sat on BT’s board for more than four years, she should be able to hit the road running. Keeping these two investors on her side will be the real test for Kirkby at BT.

Persons: Allison Kirkby, Philip Jansen ., Swedish telco, Kirkby won’t, Patrick Drahi’s, Jansen, Pierre Briançon, Liam Proud, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Telia Company, BT, Kirkby, Deutsche Telekom, Twitter, Soaring, of Japan, Thomson Locations: Swedish, Kirkby

The cable company Altice USA is said to be weighing a potential sale of Cheddar News, the network once billed as “CNBC for millennials,” less than five years after buying the company. Altice USA has hired Goldman Sachs to help explore strategic alternatives for Cheddar News, according to three people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. They cautioned that Altice was still weighing its options and could decide against a sale. Representatives for Altice USA and Goldman declined to comment. Among them: Gas Station TV (which, yes, plays at the pump) and MTV’s college campus network (which Cheddar bought in 2018).

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Altice, Goldman, Patrick Drahi, Jon Steinberg Organizations: Cheddar News, CNBC, millennials, Altice USA, New York Stock Exchange, Gas Locations: USA, Altice, French, Cheddar

SummaryCompanies BT boss who spearheaded fibre roll-out to step downJansen simplified former monopoly, retreated from sportsShares nearly halved under his tenureLONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - BT (BT.L) Chief Executive Philip Jansen will step down within the next year, having set plans in motion for Britain's biggest telecoms provider to cut jobs, become leaner and complete the roll-out of a national fibre network. Jansen had informed BT's board of directors that he plans to leave at "an appropriate moment" within the next 12 months, BT said on Monday. Since early 2019, Jansen has steered BT through a crucial period in its 177-year-history, secured funding for a national fibre network for 25 million homes and businesses and handled the arrival of billionaire investor Patrick Drahi on the shareholder register. "We suspect investors will find this transition a little premature given the fruits of BT's fibre investments have still yet to be proven out," analysts at J.P.Morgan wrote in a client note. Analysts named BT's consumer brands boss Marc Allera and Allison Kirkby, a BT board member and chief executive of Sweden's Telia, as possible successors.

Persons: Jansen, Philip Jansen, BT's, Patrick Drahi, J.P.Morgan, Adam Crozier, Marc Allera, Allison Kirkby, Sweden's, Sarah Young, Kate Holton, Sharon Singleton Organizations: BT, Britain's, Discovery, Deutsche Telekom, Ofcom, Thomson Locations: France, United States, Portugal, Israel

☆ BT CEO Jansen plans to step down over the next 12 months
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - Britain's BT (BT.L) said on Monday it had started the hunt for a new chief executive after Philip Jansen told the board he planned to step down at "an appropriate moment" within the next year. He also recently set out his longer-term vision for BT, saying it could cut potentially over 40% of its workforce once it has completed the fibre rollout and adapted to new technologies such as artificial intelligence. "This is creating a much stronger BT Group which is starting to drive growth for both investors and the UK." Jansen, a former boss of Worldpay, took over at the top of BT in February 2019. "The succession process to replace Philip is something that the board was well prepared for," Chairman Adam Crozier said.

Persons: Philip Jansen, Jansen, Patrick Drahi, " Jansen, Worldpay, Philip, Adam Crozier, Sarah Young, Kate Holton, Sachin Ravikumar Organizations: BT, Thomson

☆ China-bashing throws Vodafone a curveball
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Vodafone's (VOD.L) M&A ambitions in Britain are falling prey to anti-China rhetoric. Parliamentarians are also fretting over the security impact on contracts with government departments once the deal goes through. Vodafone may face similar scrutiny, leading to inevitable delays. The fact that CK Hutchison has retained the right to appoint the chief financial officer may be a red flag. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: CK Hutchison's, Li Ka, Franco, Patrick Drahi, Hakan Koc, Pyrros Koussios, Roman Abramovich, CK Hutchison, Pamela Barbaglia, Aston Martin, Lisa Jucca, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, HK, Vodafone, BT, UK's National Security and Investment Act, Twitter, Siemens, Thomson Locations: Britain, China, Hong Kong, Canada

☆ BT CEO pay to be frozen until retirement - Sky News
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 7 (Reuters) - BT Group's (BT.L) CEO Philip Jansen is to freeze his salary of 1.1 million pounds ($1.4 million) until he retires from Britain's largest telecoms group, Sky News reported on Wednesday. The BT Group chief's base pay will be maintained at the level it was set when he joined the company in 2019 and is expected to be published in the telecoms group's annual report due Thursday, according to Sky News. Jansen's annual salary had been fixed for five years upon assuming the role in 2019, which would have expired this year. His salary was to be renewed on a rolling basis until he eventually left the company, said a source to Sky News. BT Group did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Persons: Philip Jansen, Patrick Drahi, Shreyaa Narayanan, Krishna Chandra Organizations: BT, Sky News, BT Group chief's, Franco, BT Group, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Telco tycoons’ UK bets look stuck underwater
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Pamela Barbaglia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Set those complications aside, however, and his stake-building may have cost about 4.2 billion pounds overall since 2021. That’s according to Breakingviews calculations which use the share price from the day before each stake increase became public. The holding is now worth 3.6 billion pounds, implying a nearly 560 million pound or 13% loss. That’s mild compared with some of Vodafone’s investors. But UK consolidation would hardly move the needle as Vodafone is haggling to retain control of the merged entity.

☆ BT’s miss may spur big investors into action
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Trumpeting massive job cuts is usually one way to boost a share price. The 14 billion pound telco said on Thursday it would shed 55,000 jobs over the next seven years, but shares slumped 8%. That will stretch the patience of Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) and Patrick Drahi’s Altice, which collectively control 30% of the UK group. The catch for Drahi and Höttges is that it’s not obvious what they should demand to reinvigorate BT’s share price. Still, if the two bigwigs decide to join forces, BT’s job cuts may yet move up to the company’s C-suite.

☆ UK will not take action over Czech mogul's plan to raise Royal Mail stake
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 31 (Reuters) - Britain is no longer intervening in Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's plan to increase his stake in Royal Mail parent International Distributions Services (IDSI.L), sending the company's shares up more than 7% on Monday. In August, Royal Mail said it had been notified by then business minister Kwasi Kwarteng that he was exercising powers to look into proposals by Kretinsky's vehicle, Vesa Equity Investment, under the National Security and Investment Act. The Royal Mail review came days after the government decided not to take action over billionaire Patrick Drahi's stake in telecoms firm BT (BT.L). Vesa, Royal Mail's biggest shareholder which is ultimately controlled by Kretinsky and his business partner Patrik Tkac, in August said it had voluntarily contacted the government to inform them of its intention to increase its stake in Royal Mail, which is currently just over 22%. "Vesa Equity Investment welcomes the decision ... and reiterate our commitment to continuing long term investment presence in the U.K., including our partnership with Royal Mail," a spokesperson said.

☆ Vodafone and Altice launch 7 bln euro German broadband company
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Vodafone (VOD.L) and Altice launched a joint venture on Monday to challenge Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) by building a 7 billion euro ($6.8 billion) fibre broadband network in Germany. Vodafone said the FibreCo venture would build a "fibre-to-the-home" broadband network available to 7 million German homes, allowing Britain-based Vodafone to upgrade its existing network in Germany, its biggest market. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterConstruction will be contracted to Altice subsidiary Geodesia, with Vodafone Germany responsible for marketing the faster broadband to new customers. Vodafone said it would receive cash proceeds from Altice of up to 1.2 billion euros, which would exceed its equity contributions to the joint venture over time. Altice is the Amsterdam-based holding company bundling the assets of Franco-Israeli cable magnate Patrick Drahi.

BERLIN/FRANKFURT, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Initial offers for RTL's 48% stake in French TV channel M6 are expected by Friday after a failed tie-up with France's TF1 broadcaster, a person familiar with the matter said. RTL has been "inundated" with expressions of interest in the M6 stake since TF1 and M6 called off their planned merger last week, its boss Thomas Rabe told the Financial Times on Thursday. Other potential buyers include French media group Vivendi (VIV.PA) and Altice, owned by billionaire Patrick Drahi, alongside Italian media conglomerate MediaForEurope (MFE), Reuters reported on Monday. If RTL wants to sell M6, a deal must be completed by spring 2023, because M6's broadcasting license comes up for renewal in May. In March 2021, when Bertelsmann confirmed talks to sell its stake, French media reported the RTL's stake was worth 1.5 billion euros ($1.48 billion), valuing all of M6 at around 3 billion euros.

PARIS/MILAN, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The collapse of a deal to form a French TV giant to challenge U.S. streaming services such as Netflix (NFLX.O) knocked shares in M6 Group (MMTP.PA) and TF1 (TFFP.PA) on Monday. France's two biggest private broadcasters gave up their merger plan on Friday citing French antitrust requirements that rendered the deal unworkable. read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"It is extremely disappointing, it shows the incapacity in France of pushing a unifying project to create a French media champion," said Mikael Jacoby, head of continental trading at Oddo Securities. At 1424 GMT, TF1 shares were down 3.3% and shares in M6 were 3% lower. "Hedge funds don't want exposure to the advertising sector, people are very worried about next year," a merger arbitrage analyst said.

☆ Casa de licitații Sotheby's, dată în judecată de statul New York pentru fraudă
▼ + stars: | 2020-11-13 | by ( ) www.bizlaw.md time to read: +1 min

Procurorul statului New York a dat în judecată casa de licitații Sotheby's, deținută de omul de afaceri francez Patrick Drahi, acuzând-o că facilitează utilizarea de către unul dintre principalii săi clienți a certificatelor false de scutire de impozite, potrivit AFP. "Sotheby's a încălcat legea și a furat milioane de dolari de la contribuabilii din New York pentru a spori vânzările", a declarat procurorul Letitia James într-o declarație vineri. Asta, deși nu era comerciant și nu intenționa să revândă lucrările. Potrivit procurorului, Sotheby's a acceptat aceste certificate, chiar dacă casa de licitații știa că nu este un comerciant și chiar a ajutat la producerea acestor certificate. Faptele presupuse sunt anterioare achiziției în 2019 a Sotheby's, a doua casă de licitații din spatele Christie's, de către magnatul francez de telecomunicații Patrick Drahi.

Persons: Patrick Drahi, Sotheby's, James, Patrick Organizations: Porsal Locations: New York, francez

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