The new single entity will have a combined customer base of 37 million and expect to generate synergies of in excess of €490 million annually four years post merger.
Based on preliminary closing accounts, the respective proceeds at closing will be approximately €4.4bn for Orange and approximately €1.65bn for Masmovil shareholders.
Jean François Fallacher, CEO of Orange France, has been appointed non-executive chairman of the new company. Fallacher, who was previously CEO of Orange Spain between September 2020 and April 2023, has extensive experience of the Spanish market.
Local news reports predict a new brand name will be announced next week and revealed that the domain name MásOrange was registered two years ago during merger negotiations.
The board of directors of the joint venture has also confirmed the appointment of Meinrad Spenger, CEO of Masmovil since 2006, as CEO, and Alberto Castañeda as secretary of the board of directors. Ludovic Pech and Germán López have also been confirmed as CFO and COO, respectively.
“It is a huge honour and an enormous responsibility to serve our more than 30 million customers in Spain. We are going to try hard to ensure that they continue to be the most satisfied clients in our country. With our joint venture, the Spanish telecom market has now a stronger company with the capacity to innovate and invest and to serve our clients in the residential and business segment as their trustful partner,” Spenger said.
Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange, said “Today’s announcement is an important stepping-stone in the deployment of Orange’s long-term strategic plan in Europe. By creating a stronger and more sustainable player, the joint venture launched today will help drive innovation and investment in high-speed broadband and digital services in Spain. This is clearly a positive step forward in our overall vision for a strong and thriving telecoms industry in Europe.”
The merger is likely to put pressure on Telefonica, Vodafone Spain and Euskaltel as the other top performing Spanish companies.
