On Tuesday he raised his stake in BT Group to 18% but said he has no current plans to buy the UK telecoms monopoly.
Now Patrick Drahi is said to be mulling an IPO for Sotheby’s, the world-famous auction house he owns.
According to the Bloomberg financial news service, the Franco-Moroccan billionaire is in the early throes of listing the business, which he took private in 2019 in a £2.8bn deal.
Given his recent rhetoric on BT (he’s not a buyer, but a long-term investor, he says) this looks like an opportunistic move rather than one to free up some cash for an all-out BT bid.
Apparently, the international auction rooms are booming: both at Sotheby’s and rival Christie’s, owned by the wine, fashion and luxury brands conglomerate, Groupe Artemis.
Reports suggest Drahi’s business enjoyed a record month in November, booking what’s called marquee sales of £1bn in that timescale, while its turnover for the year to date is currently sitting at more than £3bn.
Sotheby’s and Christie’s are still the go-to destinations if you want to find a buyer for your antique Patek Phillipe watch or a Turner oil painting.
However, they are now also making a ‘turn’ from more contemporary sources from non-fungible tokens to rare trainers.
So, coming to the market at this point could make sense for Sotheby's, particularly if investors buy into this apparent paradigm shift for these formerly fusty auctioneers.
Drahi (through his company Altice) spent an estimated £100mln snapping bidding for BT stock to take his holding from 12.1% to 18%, which is pocket change for a man worth an estimated £9bn.
Still, the Sotheby’s IPO might provide a nice little post-Christmas windfall for the billionaire, while refilling the family coffers.
His BT investment drifted around 1% lower Wednesday and has eased 7.5% over the last five trading days.
This reflects the growing disquiet in Westminster over potential foreign ownership of a large chunk of the British telecoms infrastructure.
On Tuesday, the government said it was monitoring the BT situation ‘carefully’.
A spokesman added: “The government is committed to levelling up the country through digital infrastructure, and will not hesitate to act if required to protect our critical national telecoms infrastructure.”
Drahi, who had been blocked from bidding for the group until December 11, retorted: “We are pleased to take this opportunity to increase our shareholding in BT.
“Over recent months we have engaged constructively with the board and management of BT and look forward to continuing that dialogue.”