LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - BT Group shares spiked on Tuesday morning amid merger speculation in connection with Germany's Deutsche Telekom.
There has been conjecture from multiple sources that that Deutsche Telekom "has recently been working with advisors" on a full takeover of its UK rival, reported the Financial Times' Alphaville.

BT and DTE directors have also held discussions "very recently", the speculation has it, Alphaville noted, cautioning that the rumours were emanating from the "darker corners of the market".

Shares in BT, which had been down 2% at 257p, spiked up to 267p before quickly returning from whence they came.

Last week, BT reported improved first-half profits thanks to 2,000 job cuts that form part of its massive restructuring programme put in place by chief executive Gavin Patterson before he leaves at the end of January.

Analysts said that new CEO Philip Jansen, who starts work on New Year's Day, will take over a company that is difficult to manage, encompassing as it did retail, wholesale, consumer, business and enterprise-focused divisions, and "operating in a structurally challenged industry and subject to regulatory oversight and political interference".

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