PARIS: Bouygues Telecom, Orange and Free-iliad Group last Saturday have signed a memorandum of understanding with Altice France to buy telecoms operator SFR for €20.35bil (US$23.44bil), including debt.
If approved by regulators, the acquisition would rank among the biggest European telecoms deals in recent years.
A break-up of SFR would reduce the number of mobile network operators in France to three from four, setting up a key test of antitrust authorities’ willingness to allow consolidation in Europe’s crowded telecoms market.
Under the terms, Bouygues would acquire the largest share of SFR’s assets, accounting for about 52% of the carved-out revenue, with Free-iliad taking some 27% and Orange 21%.
Some assets, including parts of the fixed and mobile networks and IT systems, would be held jointly for a transition period.
The Bouygues-led consortium said last Friday that, in view of the progress made in the negotiations, the parties had given themselves another 48 hours to finalise the agreements.
Last month, Altice France extended the exclusivity period for talks with the consortium until June 5 from a prior deadline of May 16, after the three operators raised their offer in April from around €17bil. — Reuters
