Reliance considering bid for UK telecom firm BT in early talks: Report

Reliance might make an unsolicited offer to buy into the group or will try to get a controlling share, says Economic Times

Reliance Industries Ltd is considering an offer for British telecom company BT Group Plc, the Economic Times reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. 

Reliance might make an unsolicited offer to buy into BT Group or will try to get a controlling share in it, the report said. Alternatively, the Indian company may propose to work with BT’s networking or fibre optic arm and fund its expansion. 

It is not known if Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani has met with BT chief executive officer Philip Jansen and outgoing chairman Jan du Plessis. 

Reliance was outbid in September by a consortium of Apax and Warburg Pincus for control over a Dutch unit of T-Mobile. 

Economic Times said talks were in the early stages and there might not be a transaction. BT, which was privatized in the eighties, is the UK’s mainstay operator for fixed line telecom services.