La Poste Telecom is currently 51%-owned by La Poste group and 49%- owned by SFR, a rival in the mobile market to Bouygues Telecom, which itself is owned by Altice.
If approved, the €950 million deal will boost Bouygues Telecom’s mobile subscribers by 15%. As per its latest results, Bouygues Telecom had 15.4 million mobile plan subscribers, lagging behind Orange and SFR, who have approximately 37 million and 20 million respectively.
After the fourth largest mobile operator, Free, La Poste Telecom has the fifth highest subscriber base in France, with 2.3 million customers that would be absorbed into Bouygues’ clientele.
The deal also allows Bouygues Telecom to draw on La Poste’s distribution network, and tap into its brand, described as strong and recognised for its values of trust and proximity.
“Bouygues Telecom will be able to increase its customer base and strengthen its position in both mobile and fixed services drawing on La Poste’s distribution network throughout the country. Bouygues Telecom will bring its expertise and the quality of its fixed and mobile infrastructures to La Poste Mobile, on which La Poste Mobile will be able to draw to continue its development,” Bouygues Telecom CEO Benoît Torloting said.
Currently, La Poste operates using SFR’s mobile network but will leverage Bouygues' technology to grow its mobile presence. The partnership will also allow La Poste Telecom to build a new fixed offering for its customers.
When the exclusivity period of SFR's wholesale contract ends at the end of 2026, La Poste Mobile's mobile customers will be migrated to Bouygues Telecom's radio network.
Bouygues Telecom said that due to its radio network capacity, no additional investment would be necessary.
The acquisition price agreed for the shares is €950 million, which will be adjusted based on the timing of the transaction. It corresponds to an enterprise value of €963.4 million.
In 2023, La Poste Telecom is expected to generate approximately €300 million in sales and to have 400 employees.
Bouygues Telecom plans OPEX and CAPEX integration costs in 2025 and 2026 to prepare for the customer migration.
Following the migration of customers in 2027, the contribution of the La Poste Telecom acquisition is expected to be approximately €140 million in EBITDA per year starting in 2028.
The deal marks a further step in the consolidation of the mobile sector in France. In 2022, SFR acquired MVNO Syma, which had 700,000 subscribers. It also bought three more MVNOs, Prixtel, Afone and Coriolis in 2021.
For their part, Bouygues Telecom acquired Euro-Information Telecom in 2020.
