French telecom firm SFR on Wednesday rejected a buyout bid by three rivals, as the government and labour unions warned the deal could harm consumers and employees.
The crown jewel in billionaire Patrick Drahi’s empire stretching from Israel to Britain and the United States, the action around SFR parent company Altice France is under close scrutiny in a sector where big players are pushing for larger scale across the European Union.
SFR “immediately rejected” a 17 billion euro ($19.7 billion) takeover bid from its three main competitors Bouygues Telecom, Iliad and Orange, Altice France boss Arthur Dreyfuss said.
Bouygues Telecom and Orange both said they had “taken note of the decision”.
Roland Lescure, finance minister in the shaky minority government recently named by President Emmanuel Macron, had warned earlier Wednesday that Paris would be “extremely vigilant” about “the impact on consumer prices and service quality” if the deal went through.
Altice’s competitors had made no secret of their interest since the company had to restructure its 24-billion-euro debt load with creditors earlier this year.
The restructuring, one of the biggest ever in Europe and approved by a Paris commercial court in August, saw the debt trimmed to 15.5 billion euros but gave creditors a 45-percent stake in the company.
Drahi, who had borrowed massively to amass a telecoms and media empire but has recently been forced to sell assets, will retain a 55-percent stake.
The debt restructuring has not calmed fears among SFR’s workforce of a potential takeover, pushing some labour representatives to contest the plan in court.
Tuesday’s joint offer could have led to “the elimination of several thousand” jobs linked to SFR, the CFDT union federation had said earlier Wednesday, calling for “concrete guarantees” on job protections should the company be taken over.
SFR employs around 8,000 people.
