PARIS — Billionaire Patrick Drahi has turned down a €17 billion joint offer from rivals Orange, Bouygues Telecom and Free to acquire most of Altice France’s telecom assets, a move that delays long-discussed consolidation of France’s mobile market.
The proposal, made Tuesday evening, was “immediately rejected,” according to an internal email from Altice France chief executive Arthur Dreyfuss to employees. Under the plan, the three operators would have bought the bulk of SFR, Altice France’s flagship business, splitting its consumer operations among them. Bouygues and Free would also have shared SFR’s B2B unit.
In a joint response, the bidders said they would maintain their offer and called for a “constructive dialogue” with Altice to discuss next steps. The carve-up envisaged Bouygues taking 43% of the assets on sale, with Orange and Free dividing the remainder roughly evenly.
Consolidation Hopes on Hold
The refusal extends efforts to reduce France’s four national mobile operators to three, a shift proponents say would strengthen balance sheets and spur network investment. Any agreement, however, would face rigorous examination by regulators over the potential impact on prices and service quality.
French finance minister Roland Lescure said Wednesday he would be “extremely vigilant” regarding any breakup of SFR by market incumbents.
“In France, phone and phone contract prices are among the cheapest in Europe and the world, so I will be vigilant on the impact on prices for consumers and the impact on the quality of service,” Lescure told RTL, adding that the national competition authority would ensure consumer protection.
A European Push for Scale
Across the EU, regulators have come under pressure to take a more permissive stance on telecom mergers. A competitiveness report last year by former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi urged allowing consolidation to build stronger operators capable of funding the next generation of network infrastructure.
