This is thought be part of CEO Allison Kirkby’s plan to simplify the business and operations
According to the FT, BT Group is working with investment bankers Citigroup, on a possible sale of its financial services unit, Radianz. This is seen as part of CEO Allison Kirkby’s plan to simplify the group. The Radianz service is used by financial institutions to link banks, brokers, exchanges and clearing houses.
There were similar rumours about the sale of Radianz in 2022.
Kirkby (pictured) is looking to overhaul the telecoms company “by cutting costs and simplifying its products, platforms and processes,” the report says. Kirkby became CEO in February but has sat on BT’s board since 2019.
BT acquired Radianz from Reuters for $175 millon in 2005, alongside a $3 billion contract to supply the media and financial information group with all its network services.
The unit is said to earn £60 million to £70 million a year, before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, the report says, suggesting its sale value could be “in the low hundreds of millions of pounds”.
Neither BT not Citi would comment on the report.
Radianz is part of BT’s beleaguered business division, formed from merging BT’s enterprise and global units in 2022. The division – and before the merger, its constituent parts – have been struggling for some years.
There was a 5% fall in adjusted revenue to £1.9 billion for the quarter to the end of June, and a 2% drop in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation year on year to £378 million.
In November 2023 while setting out his strategy, Bas Burger, CEO of BT Business, acknowledged that previous promises of growth had “not all materialised”.
Still, shares in BT Group rose more than 17% after the full-year results were announced in May when Kirkby announced an additional £3 billion cost-cutting initiative, an increase to its dividend and new cash flow guidance.
BT is believed to be exploring the sale of its Irish and Italian units: in July there were reports of the possible sale of the rump of its scandal-hit Italian business being sold to investment groups. Mexican telecoms billionaire Carlos Slim and India’s Sunil Bharti Mittal have both become shareholders since Kirkby took up the reins. BT Grop’s