Shares in French industrial group Bouygues rose more than 3% this morning following a fresh report that telecoms consolidator Altice was laying the groundwork for a takeover of its mobile unit, Bouygues Telecom.
Altice, which already owns French mobile…
Shares in French industrial group Bouygues rose more than 3% this morning following a fresh report that telecoms consolidator Altice was laying the groundwork for a takeover of its mobile unit, Bouygues Telecom.
Altice, which already owns French mobile operator SFR and cableco Numericable, is reported to be examining the financial and regulatory obstacles to completing such an acquisition.
Advisers to Bouygues and Altice have held informal discussions about a potential tie-up, which would dilute France’s mobile market from four operators to three, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
Neither Bouygues or Altice were immediately available for comment.
Four-to-three mergers in mobile are becoming more prevalent in Europe. The European Commission has already permitted market consolidation in Austria, Ireland and Germany, and the UK looks to be next in line with Hutchison Whampoa in advanced talks to buy O2 from Telefonica.
Last year, Xavier Niel, owner of French challenger Free Mobile, was linked to a takeover of Bouygues Telecom, but in November said he was not interested in the asset. Niel told a French radio station that, for regulatory reasons, consolidation in France cannot happen without Iliad, but added that his company was not interested.
Later that month, Altice’s CEO Dexter Goei was quoted as saying that his company sees itself as “the natural buyer” of Bouygues Telecom, the country’s third-largest wireless player. Earlier in 2014, Altice sealed the €13.5bn acquisition of SFR from Vivendi.
The other main player in French mobile, Orange, has ruled itself out of leading the consolidation of the market.
In October, the incumbent’s CEO delegate, Gervais Pellissier, told TelecomFinance that its market share was too high for it to be the protagonist as it would be subject to very strict remedies. He said: “If some of our competitors want to do something together then we are ready to help, if we are requested to do something, but we will no longer undertake the first step”.
