Numericable won’t increase bid for SFR
March 12, 2014
Patrick Drahi, the controlling shareholder of French cable operator Numericable Group, has said he will not be increasing his bid for Vivendi’s SFR.
In an interview with French daily Les Echos, Drahi said he had no reason to raise his offer. “I have worked seven years on this,” he commented. “I have no reason to modify it.”
Drahi’s comment comes as Altice, the Luxembourg holding group that controls Numericable, finds itself in a bidding war with French conglomerate Bouygues to buy SFR.
Altice has confirmed it had made a firm offer to Vivendi which includes €10.9 billion in cash and would grant a 32 per cent stake to Vivendi in the newly merged Numericable-SFR unit.
Bouygues on the other hand offered €10.5 billion in cash and a 46 per cent stake in a newly merged Bouygues Telecom-SFR group.
Drahi reiterated that his offer stands until Friday (March 14th). He said a merged Numericable-SFR would be based and listed and pay taxes in France, in a bid to reassure French officials. He also said he would be the president of a merged group if his offer is picked.