Bharti Enterprises, the India-based conglomerate led by billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, has agreed to buy a 24.5% stake in BT Group from Patrick Dry's Altice. BT shares rose 6.4% at the start of trading.
Bharti said it had entered into a binding agreement with Altice to acquire a 10 percent stake in BT immediately, with the remainder “subject to receipt of appropriate regulatory approvals”.
Bharti said it supports BT's management and strategy and is not making a bid for the whole company. The company did not disclose the value of its stake. At Friday's closing price, its 24.5% stake in Altice was valued at about 3.2 billion pounds ($4 billion).
Bharti Global said the investment “signals confidence in the UK as a globally attractive investment destination, with a stable business and policy environment that is attractive to long-term investors”.
Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: European stocks rise as UK inflation forecast creates headache for Bank of England
Altice, run by French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi, has increased its stake in BT in recent years and was already facing a national security investigation in 2022.
Founded by Mittal in 1976, Bharti Global is one of India's largest conglomerates, with operations in sectors including telecommunications, media and space. Mittal, 66, serves as chairman of the company.
Adani Enterprises shares fell more than 7% after US short seller Hindenburg Research accused Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhavi Puri Buch and her husband of making undisclosed investments in an offshore fund structure used by Vinod Adani, brother of Adani Group founder Gautam Adani.
The report suggests that the reason why SEBI did not take action against the Adani Group despite evidence of fraud may be because of Buch's involvement in these funds.
“Madhavi Buch and her husband invested very small amounts of assets in a multi-tiered offshore fund structure across high-risk jurisdictions overseen by a company reportedly linked to the Wirecard scandal. The fund was run by an Adani director and was the same company used heavily by Vinod Adani in the Adani cash misappropriation scandal,” the report added, according to local media.
Hindenburg Research has called for further investigation into these allegations, and has pledged to donate any revenue it makes from the report to causes supporting freedom of expression.
SEBI has yet to announce the results of multiple lengthy investigations into the Adani Group after India's Supreme Court ordered it to conclude the probes within three months in January.
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Buch and her husband issued a statement alleging that Hindenburg's report was an attack on SEBI's credibility and an attempt at “persona non grata”.
Adani Energy Solutions (ADANIENSOL.NS) fell as much as 17 percent before paring most of its losses, and all but one of the conglomerate's 10 stocks fell.
Shares in Chinese e-commerce companies rose slightly in Hong Kong ahead of earnings reports on Thursday that will give investors an indication of the state of China's economy and consumer confidence.
“China's tech sector has strong balance sheets and many companies have built up large cash reserves in recent years, giving them plenty of room to boost shareholder returns through buybacks and dividends,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Robert Li and Jasmine Liu said.
Read more: How to invest in Indian stock market
Analysts expect revenue to grow about 7% year-on-year, but profits are expected to fall by more than 13%. The consensus for the quarter is for earnings per share (EPS) of $2.09 on revenue of $34.62bn (£27.11bn).
The company's shares are up just 4% this year, compared with 10% for U.S. rival Amazon (AMZN).
Home Depot (HD)
Shares of the home improvement giant rose in premarket trading as the company is set to report quarterly earnings on Aug. 13.
The group expects sales and profits to fall slightly compared with the same period last year as inflation-weary consumers shy away from big-ticket spending on home improvement projects.
Analysts expect Home Depot's second-quarter sales to fall to $42.57 billion from $42.92 billion in the same period last year. Net income is expected to fall to $4.48 billion from $4.66 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2023.
JPMorgan said the retailer could join other companies lowering their earnings guidance for the current fiscal year.
“Given the uneven backdrop, the prospect of an election and a shortened holiday season, we expect guidance cuts to broadly continue to vary in magnitude,” JPMorgan analysts wrote about the retail sector.
Currently, Home Depot's stock price is roughly flat for the year, indicating it is in a period of stagnation.
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