BT and Verizon to create joint global business in $4bn deal

UK telecoms group’s 50/50 venture ends more than 18-month search for a buyer of its international operations BT and the US mobile company Verizon are to combine their international businesses, ending the British telecom group’s more than 18-month search for a buyer. Verizon will pay a $625m (£473m) “equalisation” fee to BT to guarantee equal voting rights in the new 50/50 joint venture, the companies announced on Monday. The deal is expected to create a company with more than 3,000 business customers across about 180 countries and $4bn in combined annual revenue. It marks the end of BT’s long search for a buyer of its international business, as its chief executive, Allison Kirkby, works to refocus the company on the UK market. She said the deal marked an “important step forward for BT as a whole, as we deliver on our UK-focused strategy”. Kirkby, who had been a BT board member and took the helm in February 2024, has overseen a multibillion-pound cost-cutting programme across the business. Last month she said BT would raise its savings target from £3bn by 2029 to £3.7bn by 2030. BT’s headcount is expected to end the decade at between 75,000 and 80,000, towards the lower end of an es