Saudi Arabia is building stake in UK’s BT Group, Telegraph reports

London: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been buying shares of BT Group Plc on the open market in recent weeks, the Telegraph reported, citing three sources close to BT that it didn’t identify.

The stake was said to be “significantly” lower than the 5 per cent threshold that would require notification to the exchange, the report said. BT advisers have been tracking a new investor in the market for weeks, it said.

Both companies declined to comment to the Telegraph.

Sources told BT that the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, the $325bn (£263bn)  PIF, has been buying up shares on the open market in recent weeks.

The investment comes with BT close to its lowest ebb in a decade. A combination of badly dented market confidence in its prospects and the broader coronavirus slump have left the former state telecoms monopoly with a stock market valuation of only £11.7bn, less than it paid in 2016 to ­acquire its mobile arm EE, The Telegraph report said.