Bouygues Telecom, Free-iliad Group and Orange took a clear step towards consolidating the French mobile market by lodging a combined non-binding bid for Altice France’s assets which would cut the number of operators to three.

The trio’s offer places an enterprise value of €17 billion on the Altice assets targeted and the would-be acquirers are already pitching likely benefits for investment in superfast networks, cybersecurity, technology development and consumer competition.

France is a notoriously competitive market where mobile operators have long argued consolidation is necessary to keep their businesses viable. Altice’s finances in the country are shaky, resulting in a series of sell offs and debt restructuring deals.

Bouygues Telecom, Free-iliad and Orange likely anticipate they will face a high level of regulatory scrutiny and arranged their offer accordingly.

Their bid targets most of mobile player SFR’s assets, excluding its stakes in IT services company Intelcia, data centre player Ultraedge, fibre operator XpFibre and Altice Technical Services.

Bouygues Telecom and Free-iliad propose taking over the bulk of Altice France’s B2B operation, with the B2C unit to be split among the three suitors.

Other assets would mostly also be split between the three with a particular focus on infrastructure and spectrum frequencies, though Bouygues Telecom stands to be the sole recipient in less densely populated areas currently covered by SFR’s network.

Bouygues Telecom is likely to stump up 43 per cent of any accepted bid and valuation, Free-iliad 30 per cent and Orange 27 per cent.

Clearance
The companies emphasised there is no guarantee a binding offer will be made, explained staff consultations would be conducted and noted the need for regulatory approval.

CCS Insight director of consumer and connectivity Kester Mann told Mobile World Live the transaction would “likely invoke strong scrutiny” due to the reduction in players.

He noted SFR is the “jewel” in Altice’s crown, meaning any deal could be “one of the most significant moments in France’s telecoms history, irreversibly changing the mobile and fixed-line landscape in one of Europe’s biggest markets”.