Bouygues, Orange and Free‑iliad form consortium to acquire SFR for €20.3 bn

Bouygues Telecom, Orange and the Free‑iliad Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Altice France to acquire the French telecom operator SFR. The deal values SFR’s assets at about €20.35 billion, with a price split of roughly 42% to Bouygues, 31% to Free‑iliad and 27% to Orange. The agreement excludes stakes in XP Fibre, Ultraedge, Altice Technical Services and operations in France’s overseas departments.

The transaction includes earn‑out provisions of up to €0.65 billion and break‑up fees ranging from €0.1 billion to €2 billion, shared equally among the consortium. The parties pledged to preserve employment for all staff within the acquired scope until early 2029. Definitive legal documents are expected in the second half of 2026, with completion targeted for the second half of 2027, subject to competition‑authority approvals. If completed, the merger would reduce France’s telecom market from four to three major operators, prompting antitrust scrutiny but promising greater scale for investment in digital infrastructure.