French telecoms join forces to break up embattled SFR

"Three of France's main telecom groups have lodged a joint bid for SFR, a debt-laden rival struggling to keep up in an increasingly competitive market. Orange, Iliad and Bouygues Telecom said they would split the bulk of SFR's assets among themselves in an offer valuing them at €17 billion. The firms have made no secret of their interest since SFR's parent company Altice had to restructure its €24 billion debt load with creditors earlier this year."

"The restructuring, one of the biggest ever in Europe and approved by a Paris commercial court in August, saw the debt trimmed to €15.5 billion but gave creditors a 45 percent stake in the company. Altice's billionaire owner Patrick Drahi, who had borrowed massively to amass a telecoms and media empire but has recently been forced to sell assets, will retain a 55 percent stake."

"If the takeover bid is successful, Bouygues would acquire 43 percent of SFR's operations, Iliad 30 percent and Orange 27 percent. In a joint statement they said the non-binding deal would let them "step up investments in superfast network resilience, in cybersecurity and in new technologies such as artificial intelligence", while consolidating control over "strategic infrastructure in France". In August, Altice reported a nine percent drop in quarterly revenue to €2.3 billion, as mobile subscriber numbers fell by around 300,000 on the year to 19.3 million."

Orange, Iliad and Bouygues Telecom submitted a joint non-binding offer valuing most of SFR's assets at €17 billion and proposing to split operations among themselves. The proposed allocation would give Bouygues 43 percent, Iliad 30 percent and Orange 27 percent of SFR if the takeover succeeds. Altice completed a major restructuring that reduced a €24 billion debt pile to €15.5 billion and granted creditors a 45 percent stake while Patrick Drahi retains 55 percent. The move is intended to boost investments in network resilience, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence amid falling revenues and subscribers at Altice.

Read at The Local France