British Telecommunications said today it expected to receive an estimated £2 billion sterling (euro 3.1 billion) from the sale of its property estate.
Property group Land Securities Trillium and the Mapeley consortium, backed by financier Mr George Soros, are the two short-listed bidders for the estate, BT said.
A spokesman for the company could not say when the money would be received by BT. A report in today's Financial Timessaid the cash would come in by early summer, six months ahead of schedule.