Not Giving Up, Bouygues Raises Bid for Vivendi’s Mobile Unit

LONDON - Bouygues said Thursday that it had sweetened its offer for SFR, Vivendi’s mobile phone unit, despite Vivendi’s decision last week to enter into exclusive negotiations with Altice for three weeks.

Bouygues said it had not given up hope of acquiring SFR and submitted a revised bid to Vivendi. Bouygues said it had increased the cash portion of its offer by 1.85 billion euros, or about $2.55 billion, to €13.15 billion. The new offer, if accepted, would give Bouygues a 67 percent stake in SFR.

The cable and mobile phone provider Altice has been locked in a bidding war with Bouygues, the owner of Bouygues Telecom, France’s third-largest mobile operator, for SFR. Both companies sweetened their offers for SFR last week ahead of a meeting by Vivendi’s board.

Vivendi’s board decided last Friday to enter into an exclusive negotiating period with Altice, finding its offer “to be the most pertinent for the group’s shareholders and employees.”

Bouygues had previously contemplated taking a 52 percent stake and initiating an initial public offering soon after the sale so that Vivendi could monetize its remaining stake in the mobile unit. Bouygues said Thursday that it still contemplated a public float of SFR if its offer was accepted.

As part of its bid, Bouygues said that the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, a Bouygues shareholder; the family of the French businessman François Pinault; and JCDecaux, a minority shareholder in Bouygues Telecom, would acquire an interest or strengthen their existing interest in a combined Bouygues Telecom-SFR.

“This contributes to significantly increasing the cash part of the offer for Vivendi,” Bouygues said. “Other investors may also participate in order to buy out all of Vivendi’s remaining interest.”

Last week, Vivendi said that Altice offered to pay €11.75 billion and give Vivendi a 32 percent stake in Altice’s Numéricâble, which will be combined with SFR. It also provided Vivendi with predetermined exit conditions, Vivendi said.

The bidding war has pitted Martin Bouygues, the billionaire who runs the diversified industrial group that bears his name, against the French entrepreneur Patrick Drahi, who since 2002 has built Altice into a global operation with cable and cellphone assets in Europe and the Caribbean.

The potential sale of SFR is part of Vivendi’s efforts to increase its capital reserves and expand its existing media assets, like the pay-television provider Canal Plus. Vivendi had previously considered its own I.P.O. of SFR.

The choice of Altice came over the objections of Arnaud Montebourg, the French industry minister, who made it clear last week that he would have preferred SFR to be sold to Bouygues.

“I understand that the directors of Vivendi have decided to sell SFR to Numéricâble whatever the cost,” Mr. Montebourg said in an interview with Europe1 radio before the board’s decision was announced last week.