Arnaud Montebourg, France’s industry renewal minister, told a radio station it is his understanding that Vivendi executives have decided to sell mobile unit SFR to cableco Numericable and its parent Altice “at all costs”.
A Vivendi spokesperson refused…
Arnaud Montebourg, France’s industry renewal minister, told a radio station it is his understanding that Vivendi executives have decided to sell mobile unit SFR to cableco Numericable and its parent Altice “at all costs”.
A Vivendi spokesperson refused to comment.
Montebourg, who early on voiced his preference for a rival offer from Bouygues Telecom, said on Europe 1 that Altice’s bid could pose a “fiscal problem”. He argued that Numericable’ holding is based in Luxembourg and quoted in Amsterdam, while controlling shareholder Patrick Drahi is a Swiss resident who keeps his holding in Guernsey.
The minister also favours consolidation in the French mobile market in the hope to put an end to the ongoing price war between operators and their declining market shares, and therefore prevent potential job cuts.
While a merger between Bouygues Tel and SFR would bring the number down from four to three operators, the Numericable deal would have a lesser impact on competition. However, the French regulator is more likely to have concerns about horizontal consolidation among mobile operators as opposed to a vertical transaction with a cableco.
A Vivendi board sub-committee met yesterday to begin evaluating the two offers. A supervisory board meeting started this morning, which could eventually see the conglomerate enter exclusive negotiations with one of the bidders or reject both offers and pursue IPO plans instead.
The bidding war intensified yesterday as Bouygues upped its cash offer for SFR by €800m to €11.3bn. Shortly after, reports indicated that Altice had boosted its offer by €850 to €11.75bn.
Under Bouygues’ proposal, Vivendi would keep a 43% stake in a combined entity, while Altice’s offer would give Vivendi 32% of the merged company.
The bidding war has been accompanied by a war of words with executives at the rival companies claiming the other’s one offer would affect jobs in France.
