Market conditions kill off BT's Yell flotation

NEWS Last November BT announced it was intending to float Yell in order to raise around £1bn towards clearing its mounting debts. However, yesterday it issued a stock exchange warning stating it may have to abandon these plans. BT blamed an on going competition review by the Office of Fair Trading and poor market conditions. The telecoms group is trying to find ways of reducing approximately £30bn worth of debt. It hopes to give Yell shares directly to BT investors through a full demerger, which in turn will see Yell taking on around £1bn of its parent company's debt.