French cableco Numericable is reportedly preparing a cash offer for Vivendi’s telecoms unit SFR with the view to a possible future merger.
France’s BFMTV reported that the “plan B” cash offer follows stalled merger talks between the two…
French cableco Numericable is reportedly preparing a cash offer for Vivendi’s telecoms unit SFR with the view to a possible future merger.
France’s BFMTV reported that the “plan B” cash offer follows stalled merger talks between the two Paris-based companies.
According to the report, which cited unnamed sources, Numericable shareholders – namely private equity firms Carlyle and Cinven and businessman Patrick Drahi – are working on an outright cash bid for SFR. Their next step, the report added, could be to merge the companies.
While Numericable, the nation’s largest high-speed broadband ISP, has not yet secured financing for a bid, Carlyle has informed the media and telecoms group of its plans, the report stated.
A spokesperson for Numericable declined to comment on the matter. Vivendi was not immediately available for comment.
While Vivendi said last year that the sale of SFR is “not taboo”, the telco’s CEO Stephane Roussel was quoted last month as saying that SFR is not for sale and never had been, also ruling out the possibility of a merger.
Conversely, Numericable CEO Eric Denoyer recently told French newspaper Le Figaro that a merger with SFR would make sense in the highly-competitive local market. He said a tie-up had been closely looked at as it “responds to a real industrial logic”.
According to the Le Figaro report, Vivendi, currently conducting a strategic review, intends to publicly clarify its strategy after a 30 April AGM. Intending to refocus on media assets, the group is also looking to sell Brazilian telcoms unit GVT and its majority stake in Maroc Telecom.
There has been much speculation about consolidation in the French telecoms sector since Iliad’s Free Mobile made its market debut in January 2012.
Vivendi is said to have held talks with multiple operators about a possible tie-up. Last December, SFR and Bouyues Telecom confirmed they were looking at network sharing.
