BT facing opposition over Cellnet buyout

NEWS BT is facing resistance to the £3.15bn buyout of Securicor's 40 per cent stake in Cellnet. Securicor's UK shareholders are unhappy with the sum accepted by the company, and are reported to be discussing a possible alliance with their US counterparts to oppose the sale. The proposal, announced in July, values BT Cellnet at about £7.9bn, but in August, German telecoms giant, Deutsche Telekom, announced the buyout of rival operator One2One for £8.4bn - One2One has around half the number of subscribers to BT Cellnet. BT needs to have approval from 75 per cent of shareholders before it can proceed.