Should you buy BT on takeover rumour now?
BT’s share price spiked and then plummeted after the FT’s Alphaville column reported on rumours that Deutsche Telekom “has recently been working with advisors” on a full takeover of its UK rival. So, should you buy shares now?
The short answer is no. Any takeover discussions surrounding beleaguered telecoms group BT (BT.A) are likely to be in the early stages, so even if the company is forced to put out an announcement following media speculation, it’s unlikely to contain any clarity. Then there’s the issue of the pension deficit which, at last count stood at a whopping £7.7bn, or 30 per cent of the current market value. We can’t see any buyer wanting to take that on – in the first half of the group’s 2019 financial year, the pension deficit swallowed £2bn worth of cash. And how…