By Will Sturgeon, 29 January 2002 09:05
NEWS BT's new CEO, Ben Verwaayen, has ruled out a sale of the company's Wholesale division, despite overtures from investors looking to take over the fixed line business. BT last year knocked back an £18bn offer from Westdeutsche Landesbank but has now moved to reject claims that it will listen to improved bids. BT has also seen interest in its local loop, but last summer turned down an £8bn offer for the local exchanges which connect BT customers to its network infrastructure. A consortium of investors called Earthlease was keen to take over the exchanges and rent out space to BT's legion of rivals in the broadband sector - but BT showed dogged resilience once again in protecting its long term interests despite pressure to accept the money and clear its mountain of debt. Verwaayen's denial that any sale is likely was his first public address since taking the top job at BT. He officially takes up his position in BT's London office on Friday.
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