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France: UK regains telecom company

By  |  January 13, 2015

Orange chief executive Stephane Richard will turn his attention once again to consolidating France’s mobile market after the incumbent has sold its stake in U.K. telco EE to BT. France’s mobile operators have seen their margins squeezed ever since fourth player Free entered the market in 2012, sparking a fierce price war. Conglomerate Altice upped the pressure even further last year when it acquired SFR and merged it with cableco Numericable.

In May, Orange was reportedly in talks to acquire smaller rival Bouygues Telecom, but the parties were thought to be unable to reach an agreement on price.In December, the French incumbent entered talks to sell its stake in EE to BT in a deal worth £12.5 billion.

However, it appears that consolidation could soon be back on the agenda at Orange.

Full Content: Euro News

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