Orange agreed to buy the 50 per cent of Spanish joint venture MasOrange it doesn’t own for €4.2 billion, strengthening the operator’s hand in its second-largest European market.

Orange reached a non-binding agreement to buy out private equity group Lorca, which includes KKR, Cinven and Providence Equity Partners. A binding agreement is expected by the end of 2025, should final terms be agreed, with completion slated for H1 2026.

The deal would be subject to regulatory approval.

Bloomberg reported in July Lorca was asking at least €5 billion ($5.9 billion) for its stake in MasOrange.

Orange and Masmovil struck a deal to combine operations in Spain in 2022 after the private equity investors bought the latter in 2020 for €3 billion.

In October, MasOrange and Zegona Communications-owned Vodafone Spain were rumoured to be among the shortlisted bidders for Excom, a small telecoms provider in rural Spain.

MasOrange is the largest operator in Spain by mobile connections, according to GSMA Intelligence estimated data for Q3, with over 25.8 million. The other major operators are Telefonica-owned Movistar and Vodafone Spain which have 16.3 million and 13.9 million, respectively.