Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim increases his stake in BT by £150m

Carlos Slim has raised his stake in BT to more than 4 percent in another vote of confidence in the firm.

The Mexican tycoon bought another 1.1 percent of the telecoms giant, worth around 150 million pounds.

This followed the 3.2 per cent stake the billionaire acquired in June and took his stake in the FTSE 100 group to 4.3 per cent.

It is a further sign that international investors believe British companies are undervalued.

Slim’s latest investment, through his family-owned company Inbursa, came less than a month after Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal agreed to buy nearly 25 percent of the company from embattled French tycoon Patrick Drahi.

Mittal’s conglomerate Bharti Enterprises has so far bought about 10 per cent stake in Drahi’s Altice Group and is set to complete the purchase of the remaining stake of about 15 per cent once it receives regulatory clearance.

The addition of Mittal and Slim to BT’s share register has been seen as a vote of confidence in its boss, Allison Kirkby, who has been in charge since February.

During that time, shares have risen by about a quarter, though they are still down a third since the end of 2019.

The Mail understands that BT met with Inbursa over the summer to discuss the involvement.

Paolo Pescatore, telecoms analyst at PP Foresight, said Slim’s move “shows confidence in the company’s strategy and further support in light of recent developments for medium- and long-term growth opportunities.”

In May, Kirkby, 57, outlined a major restructuring of the telecoms group, including another £3bn of cost cuts, sending the shares up more than 17 per cent in one day.

But Karen Egan, an analyst at Enders Analysis, said the latest stake purchase comes as Slim is taking advantage of “recent weakness” in BT’s share price, seeing it as a “buying opportunity”.

Shares fell as much as 6 percent last week after Sky announced it would launch its broadband services on internet provider CityFibre.

The deal is a setback for BT, the country’s largest broadband and mobile operator, whose Openreach network is also used by Sky to provide broadband.

That’s why Egan said: “I don’t think Slim is looking to take control at any point, but he sees the investment case in the shares.”

Since Mittal, 66, and Deutsche Telekom also feature prominently in the share register, a full-blown takeover bid is seen as unlikely.

Slim, 84, made his fortune through telecoms giant America Movil, which dominates the Latin American market with 384 million customers and saw him become the world’s richest man in 2010.

His parents are Lebanese, but moved to Mexico when they were children. His father, Julien Slim Haddad, opened a haberdashery shop in Mexico City before buying a property on the cheap.

This financial knowledge was passed on to his children and by the age of 12 Slim already had shares in the Bank of Mexico and was eager to become an entrepreneur.

He started out as a stockbroker and bought significant stakes in Mexican construction, consumer goods, mining and property companies.

A BT spokesman said: “We welcome all investors who recognise the long-term value of our business. We maintain frequent communication with all our shareholders and meet with key investors on a regular basis.”