Patrick Drahi has given the green light to the sale of SFR: Bouygues Telecom, Iliad and Orange have entered exclusive negotiations with Altice France on an offer valuing the targeted assets at €20.35bn enterprise value, up from €17bn in the October offer initially rejected by Altice's owner. The exclusivity period runs until 15 May to finalise terms.

The split of price and value would be Bouygues Telecom 42%, Iliad (Free) 31% and Orange 27%. The perimeter excludes several Altice France assets: ACS/Intelcia, XP Fibre, UltraEdge, Altice Technical Services, and operations in French overseas territories. On the customer side, Bouygues Telecom would take the B2B (business) customer base, while the B2C (consumer) customer base would be split across the three buyers. SFR's mobile network in low-density areas would go to Bouygues Telecom; infrastructure and spectrum would also be shared.

The consortium frames this as a "socially responsible" operation with a focus on jobs, promising higher investment in high-speed networks, cybersecurity and AI. The deal still needs consultation with employee-representative bodies, then regulatory clearances — notably on merger control (antitrust), historically a major hurdle to French telecoms consolidation. Source: Les Echos, 17 April 2026, Thomas Pontiroli.