French Fund Warns UK "Risks Becoming Uninvestable" After BT-TalkTalk Rescue Backing

A major French infrastructure fund warned that government backing for BT's rescue of TalkTalk has undermined confidence in Britain and risks making the country "uninvestable," citing growing regulatory uncertainty in the UK broadband market. Bruno Candès, a partner at InfraVia, which manages €20bn (£17bn), said interventions in the sector had fuelled uncertainty and risked deterring foreign investment. He pointed to ministers reserving the right to override competition concerns to push through BT's takeover of TalkTalk, which serves 2.5 million customers and had been near collapse. Candès contrasted that with regulators' threat to block Virgin Media O2's £2bn takeover of Netomnia, a deal InfraVia is pursuing through the Nexfibre joint venture with Liberty Global and Telefónica. He criticised the CMA's reliance on a "counterfactual" assessment, saying committed capital "is being weighed against an alternative that may never happen." The CMA delivered a fast-tracked report on the BT deal to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy last week and will issue its final Netomnia decision before Dec 15.