European Telecom Acquisition
Orange, Bouygues, and Free-Iliad Consortium Signs MoU to Acquire SFR for €20.35 Billion
Three of France's four major telecom operators have struck one of the biggest deals in European telecom history. Bouygues Telecom, Free–iliad Group, and Orange signed a Memorandum of Understanding on June 6, 2026, to jointly acquire SFR from Altice France for €20.35 billion, according to Orange. The deal would shrink the French mobile market from four players to three.
The price splits roughly as follows: Bouygues Telecom takes the largest share at 42%, Free–iliad gets 31%, and Orange receives 27%. Together, they are buying a company with €8.0 billion in annual revenue, around 25 million mobile customers, and a fiber network covering 40 million connections, GlobeNewswire reported.
Altice's Debt Crisis Forced a Reluctant Sale
Altice France's founder Patrick Drahi did not sell willingly. At its peak, Altice France carried €24 billion in debt. A court-approved restructuring plan in 2025 cut that to €15.5 billion, but creditors including Pimco and BlackRock took a 45% stake in the company. That pressure left Drahi with little choice but to sell SFR, according to Mobile Europe.
The Consortium's opening bid back in October 2025 was just €17 billion — far below Drahi's hoped-for €30 billion. After months of due diligence and two deadline extensions, the two sides landed at €20.35 billion. A final 48-hour extension was granted as recently as June 5, 2026, Reuters reported, before the deal was signed the following day.
A Three-Way Split Designed to Beat Antitrust Rules
Earlier attempts to consolidate France's telecom market failed. A proposed Bouygues–Orange merger collapsed in 2016. This time, the three buyers designed the deal differently. By splitting SFR's customers among all three rivals, no single company becomes dominant. That structure is meant to satisfy competition regulators, according to Telecoms.com.
Each Consortium member must now file a separate application with France's Competition Authority. Orange CEO Christel Heydemann has argued that a three-player market is
Jobs Protected Until 2029, but Unions Remain Nervous
The Consortium pledged to keep all SFR employees on staff until the start of 2029. That covers SFR's roughly 25,000 workers. The deal also guarantees no service interruptions for customers during the transition, according to Orange.
Despite the guarantee, France's CFDT union is worried. Delegate Olivier Pinto said employees are
Consumers and Government Watch Prices Closely
French President Emmanuel Macron said he will be
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