British Telecom is set to pull off its record breaking multi-billion pound rights issue.
BT announced today that its shareholders had taken up almost 90 per cent of the £5.9-billion-pound (euro 9.8 billion) share rights issue it announced last month.
But though the strong interest showed the market does still have an appetite for new telecoms paper, operators further down the queue of firms hoping to raise cash may receive a more lukewarm reception, analysts warned.
British operator Vodafone led the pack last month, BT quickly followed and Dutch operator KPN and German counterpart Deutsche Telekom have also announced plans to issue new stock.
The troubled operator announced in May plans to separate its mobile phone interests and launch the rights issue, the biggest in British history, under efforts to reduce debts of around £30 billion sterling.
Shares in BT have fallen from a peak above £13 pounds in December 1999 to a price of £4.36 today.
AFP