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Today's Markets: Billionaire buys stake in BT, US vaccine donations & more

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June 10, 2021

Good morning and welcome to the IC’s live blog, where we round up the biggest business stories of the day and overnight news from the US. 

Billionaire buys 12 per cent stake in BT

French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi has taken a 12.1 per cent stake in BT (BT.A) through his telecoms investor company, Altice. The £2bn holding represents Drahi’s belief that "BT has a significant opportunity to upgrade and extend its full-fibre broadband network to bring substantial benefits to millions of households across the UK.” He said that he fully supports management’s strategy, and that the company did not intend to make a bid for BT. The move makes Drahi one of the telco’s largest investors, second only to Deutsche Telekom. 

BT said this morning that it welcomes “all investors who recognize the long-term value of our business and the important role it plays in the UK. We are making good progress in delivering our strategy and plan.” Its shares nudged up 2 per cent in early trading. 

 

Biden revokes Trump’s TikTok ban 

Over in the US, President Biden has cancelled three executive orders signed by his predecessor that sought to ban Chinese-owned apps such as TikTok and WeChat in the US. He has instead signed an order that directs the US Department of Commerce to review apps that are “subject to the jurisdiction of a foreign adversary”, and judge whether they pose an “unacceptable risk” to national security.

The Trump era tactic was to target individual companies and ended up being mired in legal challenges. He had ordered that TikTok be sold to a US company, and according to The Wall Street Journal, the deal struck last year with Oracle has been “shelved indefinitely”.

By contrast, Biden is taking a much broader approach, although still names China as a specific threat. Under the new framework, transactions would be considered to have a “heightened risk” if they involve apps owned, controlled or managed by people supporting foreign adversary military or intelligence service or when the apps collect sensitive personal data. 

 

US to donate 500m vaccine doses 

TikTok hasn’t been the only thing on President Biden’s mind. He announced yesterday that the US will purchase 500m doses of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer (US:PFE) and BioNTech (US:BNTX) and donate them to the poorest countries around the world. The recipients will be 92 low- and lower middle-income countries and the African Union, and the US government says this will form “the foundation for a coordinated effort by the world’s democracies to vaccinate people around the world.”

Indeed, according to Bloomberg, the G7 has drafted plans to end the pandemic by December 2022 by pledging at least 1bn extra vaccine doses over the next year to help cover 80 per cent of the world’s adult population.

The US is aiming to deliver 200m Pfizer doses by the end of the year, and they will be distributed through the Covax scheme, which is backed by the World Health Organisation.

And its efforts may not stop there. CNBC has also reported that the Biden administration is in negotiations with Moderna (US:MRNA) to secure additional vaccines to supply to the world.

While donations are a positive step, some would argue that they are still insufficient. A temporary waiver of intellectual property (IP) protections on Covid-19 vaccines could yet emerge to lower barriers to access.

 

Read our live blog below to catch up with the rest of today’s top stories and find out what they mean for your money.