Deutsche Telekom Has Unfinished Business With BT
The German phone company has lost billions on its BT investment. But it still has options.
BT’s past and present. Its future?
Photographer: Bloomberg/BloombergThe boss of Deutsche Telekom AG says his biggest mistake was a 2015 deal to take a stake in BT Group Plc. Many fund managers with shares in the UK telecoms firm probably feel the same way. But Tim Hoettges, in his 10th year running the German company, wasn’t just giving the Financial Times a confession. His stated ambition to recoup losses on the holding looks like a strategic shift.
Rewind to the original deal. BT was looking to get back into mobile telephony, regretting the 2001 spinoff of its mmO2 network. It bought EE from joint owners Deutsche Telekom and France’s Orange SA at a valuation of £12.5 billion ($14.9 billion).