BT said to explore sale of Radianz unit

BT Group is reportedly working with investment bankers on a possible sale of its Radianz unit as part of chief executive Allison Kirkby’s plan to simplify the UK telecoms group.

The Financial Times cited three people familiar with the matter as saying that the company is working with Citigroup to explore the disposal of Radianz, a service used by financial institutions to connect banks, brokers, exchanges and clearing houses to each other.

The possible sale comes as Kirkby attempts to overhaul the telecoms company by cutting costs and simplifying its products, platforms and processes.

Outlining that strategy at its annual results in May, she said BT was "sharpening" its focus including by "exploring options to optimise our global business", which would create a "simpler" group.

BT agreed to buy Radianz from Reuters for $175m in 2005, along with a $3bn contract to supply the media and financial information group with all its network services. According to FT sources, the unit generates earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of about £60m to £70m a year.

It was understood it could be valued in the low hundreds of millions of pounds.

BT and Citi declined to comment to the FT.

Radianz is part of BT’s business division, which was formed from a merger of BT’s enterprise and global units, announced in 2022.

The FT said it was also understood that BT has been exploring the sale of its Irish and Italian units. The group has since gained telecoms tycoons Carlos Slim and Sunil Bharti Mittal as shareholders. It is due to report its half-year results in November.