Bharti Enterprises said on Monday that it will acquire a 24.5% interest in British Telecom (BT) for around 3.2 billion pounds ($4 billion). Bharti Enterprises, led by Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, would take out the British company's major investor, telecom mogul Patrick Drahi, whose Altice firm is now in substantial debt.

"Bharti Global, the international investment arm of Bharti Enterprises (Bharti), a leading Indian business group with world-class companies in telecoms, digital infrastructure, and space communications, has reached an agreement to acquire an interest in c.24.5% of the issued share capital of BT Group ple from Altice UK S.Ã r:l (Altice UK)," according to a press release.

According to the statement, the shares will be bought through Bharti Televentures UK Ltd, a business founded and completely controlled by Bharti Global.

"Bharti Televentures UK Ltd has entered into a binding agreement with Altice UK to buy a c.9.99% interest in the BT Group's issued capital, with the remaining c.14.51% of BT's share capital to be acquired after receiving appropriate regulatory clearances. Bharti and BT have a long-standing connection that dates back over two decades. In 1997, BT purchased a 21% investment in Bharti Airtel, and today marks a key milestone in Bharti's history as it buys a stake in the historic British company BT, boosting the India-UK bilateral alliance," according to the announcement.

Bharti stated that the investment in BT intends to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda of upgrading and strengthening India-UK connections.

"Bharti hopes that this investment will further help create new synergies in the telecom sector between both countries in the areas of Al and SG R&D and core engineering amongst others, offering great potential to collaborate on industry best practices and emerging technologies," it said.

According to Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, "BT's emphasis on enhancing its networks, fostering consumer growth, and optimizing its operations positions it strongly to solidify its status as a top global telecoms player."