An Indian global conglomerate has agreed to buy almost a quarter of BT, Britain’s biggest telecoms group, from the debt-laden media tycoon Patrick Drahi.

Bharti Global, the international investment arm of Bharti Enterprises, has agreed to acquire 24.5 per cent of BT from Drahi’s Altice UK, making it the largest shareholder in the FTSE 100 company.

The Indian company said it had no intention of making an offer to acquire BT under the City takeover code. However, shares in BT rallied 7¾p, or 6 per cent, to 138½p, on the London Stock Exchange on Monday morning, extending gains over the past 12 months to more than 20 per cent.

City analysts said the deal helped reduce an overhang on BT’s shares, with Drahi seeking to cut debt in his telecoms empire.

Drahi, who is also the owner of Sotheby’s, the auction house, first bought into BT in 2021 and twice went on to raise Altice’s stake, prompting speculation over his intentions for BT.

However, Altice Group, which holds global telecoms assets, is facing growing pressure over its debts, reported to be in the region of $60 billion, and is in talks with bondholders over restructuring plans and has sold off several assets to raise cash.

Bharti Enterprises owns a number of companies in telecoms, digital infrastructure and space communications, including Bharti Airtel, spanning customers in 17 countries across south Asia and Africa. The division for the latter, Airtel Africa, is a London-listed FTSE 100 company.

The deal will be structured in two stages. Bharti Televentures UK, a vehicle of Bharti Global, will initially acquire a 9.99 per cent stake from Altice, with the remaining 14.51 per cent to be acquired after receipt of regulatory clearances.

Bharti is voluntarily applying for clearance under the UK National Security and Investment Act and said the investment demonstrated the confidence it had in BT and in the UK, which it said was an “attractive global destination for investment, with a stable business and policy environment attractive for long-term investors”.

Bharti also said the acquisition built on its “significant record of long-term investments across the UK” — which include The Hoxton, a hotel chain, and the Scottish resort Gleneagles — as well as its “longstanding familiarity with BT’s business”.

BT previously owned a 21 per cent stake along with two board seats in Bharti Airtel Limited from 1997 to 2001.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, 66, chairman of Bharti Enterprises, whose wealth is estimated at $11.1 billion, according to Forbes, said he backed BT’s strategy and management and he had not asked for a board seat. But he called on the company to be “bolder”.

He said: “BT has a strong portfolio of market-leading brands, high-quality assets and an experienced management team with a compelling strategy mandated by the BT board to deliver value over the long term, which we fully support.”

BT is led by Allison Kirkby, who took charge in February having previously been a non-executive since 2019. Her predecessor Philip Jansen had overseen years of major capital investment to deliver full-fibre broadband to 25 million UK premises by the end of 2026.

Kirkby, 57, welcomed the “scale of investment” from Bharti as a “great vote of confidence in the future of BT Group and our strategy”.

The top of BT’s share register will remain tightly held, with Deutsche Telekom holding about 12 per cent, making it the second-largest investor in the company, and the Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim recently emerging with a 3.2 per cent stake.

Barclays was financial adviser and Linklaters legal adviser to Bharti Global on the deal.