French telecoms and media group Altice has restarted talks to sell its telco operator SFR to three rivals – Bouygues Telecom, Free-Iliad, and Orange.
The trio has raised its bid for SFR to €20.35bn after Altice rejected their €17bn bid last October.
If successful, the deal would be one of the biggest in the European telecoms market in recent years. It would also reduce the number of mobile network operators in France to three from four.
SFR is the second-largest telecom operator in France, serving over 25 million retail customers, businesses, local authorities, and operators.
Altice France has granted an exclusivity period to the trio until 15 May to finalise the terms of a deal.
In a statement, the consortium said: “This socially responsible transaction would help sustain and strengthen the entire digital economy and the telecommunications sector in France.”
The offer covers the acquisition of the majority of assets operated by Altice France-SFR, excluding stakes in ACS/Intelcia, XP Fibre, Ultraedge, and Altice Technical Services, as well as the Altice France group’s operations in the French overseas departments and regions.
Bouygues plans to acquire 42% of SFR's operations, Free-Iliad 31%, and Orange 27%.
SFR’s B2B business and customers would be taken over by Bouygues Telecom, while its B2C business and customers would be shared between Bouygues Telecom, Free-Iliad, and Orange.
The other assets and resources, in particular infrastructure and spectrum, would be shared between Bouygues Telecom, Free-Iliad, and Orange.
The transaction will be subject to prior consultation with employee representative bodies, and then subject to review by regulatory authorities.
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