French industrial group Bouygues said yesterday it has not received any takeover bids for its mobile subsidiary Bouygues Telecom, responding to recent media reports.
Late last week Iliad, owner of French wireless rival Free Mobile, made a surprise…
French industrial group Bouygues said yesterday it has not received any takeover bids for its mobile subsidiary Bouygues Telecom, responding to recent media reports.
Late last week Iliad, owner of French wireless rival Free Mobile, made a surprise US$15bn move for T-Mobile US.
This prompted specultation in some reports that Iliad was no longer interested in playing a consolidation role in France’s mobile market. Others, however, suggested that the T-Mobile bid was in fact a ruse to put pressure on Bouygues to reconsider its price expectations.
According to media reports earlier this year, Free approached the third-largest operator with a €6bn offer, which was turned down.
A few weeks later, in early July, incumbent Orange dropped merger talks with Bouygues, which was rumoured to be seeking at least €8bn for its mobile unit.
In the statement yesterday, the industrial group said: “Further to recent statements in the press, Bouygues reiterates that Bouygues Telecom is continuing the implementation of its transformation plan announced on 11 June 2014 aimed at securing an independent future.
“In addition, the group has not received to date any takeover bids for its subsidiary Bouygues Telecom.”
Since losing out to cableco Numericable in its attempt to take over rival SFR a few months back, Bouygues Telecom has been under pressure to address its haemorrhaging subscriber base. The operator along with Orange and SFR have run into some difficulties since Free made its market debut in 2012 with slashed-down prices.
In June, Bouygues Telecom announced its transformation plan to enable it to continue as an independent company. The new strategy, which will see over 1,500 jobs cut, is focused on three main priorities: investing in its mobile network; launching “aggressively-priced, technology-packed offers”; and enhancing its customer service.
