Bouygues had its initial offer, of approximately €14.5 billion, outbid by cable operator Numericable earlier this week, but late yesterday, the French conglomerate said it now values SFR at €16.3 billion.
In a statement, the company said: “Convinced of the industrial strength of its plan to merge Bouygues Telecom and SFR and of its ability to create value over the long term, Bouygues submitted an offer to Vivendi comprising a substantially improved cash part on March 20 2014.”
If successful, Bouygues’ acquisition would create France’s largest mobile carrier, with an estimated 42.5% market share, as well as reduce the number of mobile operators in France from four to three.
Last Friday, Vivendi – owner of SFR – said it was to enter discussions with Altice – owner of Numericable, over a potential merger.
Altice is reportedly offering Vivendi a 32% stake in a final merger, whereas Bouygues’ stake offering stands at 21.5% for the proposed Bouygues-SFR operator.
Vivendi first announced the spin-off of its mobile unit, SFR, in November 2013.
