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France: With lost buyout opportunity, Bouygues could become M&A target

By  |  March 18, 2014

French telco giant Bouygues was dealt a blow as its efforts to acquire rival SFR, owned by Vivendi, failed, a development that means the company could now itself be the target of a takeover.

A bidding war had sparked between Bouygues and cable firm Numericable for SFR, with Bouygues increasing its offer for the company to $15.8 billion.

Experts had suspected that a Numericable acquisition of SFR would fare better with antitrust authorities, however, as the two companies are not direct competitors. Numericable ultimately won the battle.

Now, reports say Bouygues is likely to focus on its construction business to remain profitable. Some experts say the company could the be the target of a merger, or that the company could look to reinvent itself by focusing on new industries other than wireless operations.

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