Orange has confirmed that it has sold its 2.5 per cent residual participation in BT Group plc (the Share Placement) for a net amount of £486 million.

Of the total sold shares, around 41 million shares have been acquired by BT Group. The settlement of the Share Placement is expected on July 2nd.

Orange ended up with a stake in BT in 2014 when the group bought mobile operator EE.

“Orange argues that it had no ‘strategic objective’ related to its BT stake and wished to sell out ahead of seasonally lower trading liquidity in the summer”, analysts at Jefferies said in a note to investors.