Bouygues Telecom signs MoU to acquire SFR in €20.35bn consortium deal
Bouygues Telecom has signed a memorandum of understanding alongside Orange and Free-iliad Group to acquire the majority of assets operated by Altice France's SFR, in a transaction valued at a total enterprise value of €20.35 billion.
The deal, announced on 6 June 2026, marks one of the most significant consolidations in European telecoms in a decade and would elevate Bouygues Telecom to the position of France's second-largest telecoms operator.
Under the proposed asset split, Bouygues Telecom would take roughly 42% of the total consideration — implying a price in the region of €8.5 billion — and acquire SFR's B2B division (approximately €1.2 billion in annual sales), around 3.8 million B2C mobile customers, around 2.6 million fixed customers, SFR's share of the mobile network in less-dense areas under the existing "Crozon" network-sharing agreement, and a portion of SFR's FTTH horizontal network. Orange and Free-iliad would absorb the remaining B2C customer bases and assets in proportions of 27% and 31% respectively, though those percentages may shift before closing.
The deal mechanics
The €20.35 billion enterprise value is subject to several closing adjustments: a potential earn-out of up to €650 million, downward price protection linked to SFR's financial performance prior to closing, and standard debt-adjustment mechanisms. A €350 million payment is due at signing of the final legal documents.
Bouygues Telecom has secured fully committed bank financing for its share, with a bond refinancing planned thereafter. The company estimates annual run-rate synergies of approximately €1 billion in EBITDAaL minus capex once integration is complete, with around 70% of that figure expected to be realised by 2032 and the full effect visible by 2034. Integration costs are estimated at between €3.5 billion and €4 billion in total for Bouygues Telecom, the bulk falling in the first five years post-closing. The acquisition multiple is put at approximately 7x run-rate post-synergy EBITDAaL on Bouygues Telecom's own accounts.
Assets not directly acquired by any single operator — notably SFR's fixed and mobile networks outside the Crozon perimeter and certain IT systems — would remain inside SFR SA for a transition period of at least 30 months, held equally by all three consortium members to ensure operational continuity.
Chief executive Benoît Torloting described the signing as "a historic milestone" in Bouygues Telecom's development as it marks the company's 30th anniversary, citing the ambition to become a stronger challenger in the B2B market and to expand fixed-mobile convergence across its enlarged subscriber base.
Regulatory and competitive context
Completion is conditional on merger-control clearance from French and EU regulators, employee consultation processes, and the satisfaction of other conditions precedent; the transaction is not expected to close before the second half of 2027. Antitrust scrutiny will be intense: consolidation from four to three mobile network operators has historically drawn remedies including mandatory MVNO access, spectrum divestiture and roaming obligations from the European Commission. The French telecoms regulator Arcep and the competition authority Autorité de la concurrence are both likely to play an active role in setting the terms of any clearance.
The deal has a pronounced digital-sovereignty dimension. Both Bouygues and the French government have signalled that keeping SFR's strategic infrastructure within established French industrial groups is a policy objective — a framing that may ease domestic political approval but will need to be squared with EU state-aid and merger-control rules if any public financial support accompanies the transaction.
For enterprise buyers, the prospect of a restructured SFR B2B entity — eventually absorbed entirely into Bouygues Telecom by 2034 — raises questions about contract continuity, cybersecurity service-level agreements and cloud-connectivity roadmaps during the transition window. Bouygues has committed to maintaining current service plans and guaranteeing employment for acquired staff until at least the beginning of 2029.