PARIS: Billionaire Patrick Drahi has made approaches through a banker to sound out French telecom competitors Bouygues and Free about a possible deal with his SFR operator that would consolidate the nation’s mobile phone sector, according to La Tribune.
Neither competitor has shown any interest in the move made by Lazard’s Vincent Le Stradic, the newspaper said, citing people it didn’t name. It said Bouygues, Xavier Niel’s Free and the banker declined to comment.
Spokespeople for Altice, Iliad and Bouygues declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News. Le Stradic didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Drahi has been navigating choppy waters in recent months amid a criminal investigation in Portugal into suspected corruption, money laundering and tax fraud at Altice. It has resulted in the arrest of the tycoon’s right-hand man Armando Pereira, and the suspension of executives and suppliers in France, Portugal and the United States.
The probe comes as Drahi has put large swaths of the Altice empire up for sale as it struggles to finance US$60bil of debt accumulated through years of acquisitions.
Drahi said he would prefer to sell stakes of Altice’s European carriers to private equity investors rather than industrial or strategic partners. — Bloomberg
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