BT in talks to buy EE for £12.5bn

(BBC) Telecoms giant BT is in exclusive talks to buy EE - Britain's largest mobile network group - for £12.5bn.

It said the period of exclusivity would last "several weeks" to enable it to carry out the necessary negotiations.

In late November, BT said it was in talks to buy either EE or O2, which is owned by Spanish firm Telefonica.

"The proposed acquisition would enable BT to accelerate its existing mobility strategy," BT said in a statement.

Under the terms of the proposed deal, EE's owners Germany's Deutsche Telekom and France's Orange would take a 12% and 4% stake in BT respectively.

Deutsche Telekom would also be entitled to appoint one member to the board, BT said.

A takeover of EE would create a communications giant covering fixed-line phones, broadband, mobile and TV.