LONDON, Nov 29 — Shares in BT jumped as much as 9 per cent today after India’s Economic Times said Reliance Industries was weighing a bid for the British telecoms group.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance might make an unsolicited offer to buy into BT or try to get a controlling share, the report said, citing sources familiar with the matter.

It could also partner with BT’s networks arm Openreach and fund its fibre expansion plans, it added.

Reliance and BT declined to comment.

After rising as much as 9 per cent, shares in BT were trading up 8 per cent at 166.35 pence at 0842 GMT, valuing the company at £16.5 billion (RM93 billion). Reliance was up 2.2 per cent at 2,465 rupees.

The British company, whose shares have more than halved in the last five years, was already the subject of takeover speculation after Franco-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi bought a 12.1 per cent stake this year.

Drahi will be free to buy more of the British telecoms giant on December 11, having pledged in June he wouldn’t launch a takeover offer for the company — a statement that precluded him from doing so for six months under British takeover rules. — Reuters