Telecoms holding Altice is reportedly gearing up to sell its majority stake in Outremer Telecom, an alternative operator in French overseas territories across the Caribbean and Indian Ocean, to alleviate regulatory concerns.
Altice is seeking approval…
Telecoms holding Altice is reportedly gearing up to sell its majority stake in Outremer Telecom, an alternative operator in French overseas territories across the Caribbean and Indian Ocean, to alleviate regulatory concerns.
Altice is seeking approval to merge its cable unit Numericable with French mobile operator SFR, which is a dominant player in the overseas markets of La Reunion and Mayotte, according to local reports.
If combined, Numericable and SFR would together control over 70% of the mobile market in both territories.
Talks are ongoing for a potential sale, a source close to the situation was quoted telling French news agency AFP.
Altice was not immediately available to comment on the report.
In July last year, Altice completed its acquisition of a 67% stake in Outremer – which provides fixed, mobile and internet services in Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Reunion and Mayotte – from Axa Private Equity.
A few months later, in early April, the holding agreed to buy Vivendi-owned SFR for €13.5bn in cash. Altice is planning to merge Numericable and SFR to create a converged entity.
France’s competition authority opened an in-depth, phase II review of the SFR-Numericable deal a couple of months ago, saying that the detailed examination was necessary because “the transaction raises serious doubts about hindering competition”.
A decision is expected within the next few weeks.
