LONDON - The French media and telecommunications conglomerate Vivendi said on Thursday that it had received offers for SFR, its cellphone unit, that could value the business at more than $20 billion.
The French construction and telecoms company Bouygues said that it had offered 10.5 billion euros, or $14.4 billion, for 49 percent of SFR, in a deal that would allow Vivendi to retain a 46 percent stake in the French carrier. Bouygues’ minority shareholder, JCDecaux, would hold the remaining shares of SFR.
In a rival bid, the cable and cellphone operator Altice also has offered around $20 billion to buy SFR through a mixture of debt financing, equity and assets, according to people with direct knowledge of the deal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The proposals, which were submitted late on Wednesday, pit 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, against Martin Bouygues, the billionaire who runs Bouygues.
In a statement, Vivendi, which is looking to increase its capital reserves to expand its existing media assets like the pay-TV provider Canal Plus, said it would consider the two offers for SFR. Previously, the French company had planned to spin off the cellphone provider through an initial public offering.
Analysts warned, however, that antitrust officials may take a hard line on the proposed takeover, as they seek to protect French consumers’ choice over their cellphone contracts.
That is particularly true for Bouygues, which is currently France’s third largest carrier, as its proposal would lead to reduction in the number of operators active in France. The country’s largest provider, Orange, has faced stiff competition from low-cost rivals that have offered cheap deals to woo customers away from the former state monopoly.
Under its proposals, Bouygues said that it planned to list the combined cellphone unit through an initial public offer that would allow Vivendi to sell a further 15 percent stake in SFR. The plan would value its offer at €19 billion, the French company said in a statement.
As Altice, which owns a 40 percent stake in the French cable provider Numericable, does not have a cellphone business in France, the company believes it will have an easier task of convincing antitrust authorities to back its offer, according to people with knowledge of the company’s strategy.
As part of its rival bid, Altice is offering Vivendi around €11 billion in cash, proceeds from a €750 million capital increase from shareholders and roughly €3 billion in Numericable assets, the people added.
The European telecoms sector has become rife with dealmaking. Announced takeovers involving European telecoms companies reached $194 billion in the 12 months through March 6, a four-fold increase compared to the same period in year earlier, according to the data provider Thomson Reuters. The figure is somewhat skewed because of Vodafone’s $130 billion sale of its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless last year.
