BT Group ends feud with regulators in deal to split off network

London

BT Group plc agreed to split its Openreach telecommunications network into a separate legal entity, resolving a year-long dispute with UK regulators and sending the stock up the most in almost nine months.

The accord ends a major distraction that has weighed on BT shares and frees chief executive officer Gavin Patterson to address other pressing issues, including an accounting scandal in Italy and a slowdown in the company's outsourcing business to government and corporate clients.