Telecoms holding Altice, which recently received approval to merge its French cableco Numericable with local mobile operator SFR, is open to buying Bouygues Telecom, according to its CEO.
Altice’s Dexter Goei was quoted saying at a Morgan Stanley…
Telecoms holding Altice, which recently received approval to merge its French cableco Numericable with local mobile operator SFR, is open to buying Bouygues Telecom, according to its CEO.
Altice’s Dexter Goei was quoted saying at a Morgan Stanley conference in Barcelona yesterday that his company sees itself as “the natural buyer” of Bouygues Telecom, France’s third-largest wireless player.
His comments came a few days after Xavier Niel, the owner of number four Free Mobile, said he was not interested in any consolidation deal in France.
In an interview with BFM Radio in early November, Niel also noted that, for regulatory reasons, mobile consolidation in France cannot happen without Free’s owner Iliad, adding that the country would therefore remain a four-player market.
Bouygues Telecom has been the most impacted by the price war sparked by Free in early 2012. Since losing out to Numericable in its attempt to take over SFR earlier this year, the mobile operator has been tipped as a potential target.
But a few months ago, incumbent telco Orange dropped its French consolidation ambitions while Iliad turned its attention to the US market. Despite failing to take over T-Mobile US, Niel said he is not planning to acquire Bouygues Telecom.
That would leave SFR as the only potential consolidator but it remains to be seen whether regulators would give their blessing to such a deal.
In late October, France’s competition authority attached several conditions to its approval of the €17bn combination of SFR and Numericable, having previously said the transaction raised “serious doubts about hindering competition”.
Altice, which carries €19.2bn worth of debt mainly related to the SFR acquisition, is also in the race to buy Portugal Telecom. In early November, the holding made a €7bn offer for the Portuguese incumbent.
But Goei was quoted as saying that Altice would not need a capital increase to fund a purchase of Bouygues Telecom, which is estimated to be worth up to €5bn. He reportedly added that his company would be able to deleverage by the time it secures regulatory approval for a potential deal.
Orange is currently France’s largest mobile player in terms of subscribers, followed by SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free.
