Altice SA the telecommunications company based in Europe has offered approximately $11.4 billion to acquire Bouygues Telecom the mobile operator based in France. The deal could face some stiff hurdles from regulators in France, as it would lower the number of mobile operators in the country to 3 from its current 4.
Altice, which is controlled by Patrick Drahi the French cable magnate, made the offer for Bouygues Telecom almost 10 days ago. It would include the merging of the unit with the French operations of Altice, known as Numericable-SFR.
Bouygues SA the parent company will be taking the offer into consideration during the upcoming week, but it is not clear if Martin Bouygues the chairman of Bouygues will accept, said a person in the know.
On Sunday, Emmanuel Marcron the Economic Minister of France fired a shot against this deal by saying that companies should focus first on jobs and investment and not mergers.
The consequences in this respect are negative for consolidation, as a number of recent European cases have shown, said Macron. The time it not right for these mergers that could be beneficial to some but are not in the best interest of the public.
To address possible concerns with antitrust, Drahi struck a deal on the side with Iliad S.A., the owner of another mobile operator known as Free Mobile, in France, to purchase parts of the telecom network of Bouygues’ said a person close to the matter.
Since Free Mobile’s arrival, in the early part of 2012, a price war has been going on, as French firms in telecommunications have complained that the market has become too competitive. However, the competition watchdog in the country said it would be wary of these kinds of deals.
