BT: a game of fantasy M&A? 

There’s talk of a bid for BT from Reliance Industries. Is it a serious offer?

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani 
Mukesh Ambani: not interested?
(Image credit: Subhankar Chakraborty/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Just in time for “panto season” comes word of a bid for BT from Reliance Industries – the behemoth owned by Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, said Alistair Osborne in The Times. Surely not a serious offer? “Oh, yes it is,” says The Economic Times of India. “Oh, no it isn’t,” retorts Reliance, which calls the rumour “completely speculative and baseless”. Nonetheless, the Government is reportedly monitoring the situation at the former state telco. BT’s shares jumped nearly 10% on the story – and were still up after it was dashed, perhaps reflecting the fact that “there’s been bid talk” ever since the French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi’s outfit, Altice, quietly “snaffled” a 12.1% stake in June. The big prize is seen as BT’s Openreach broadband operation.

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