Iliad is no longer content with its status as Telecom Italia’s little finger. Operator owned by Xavier Niel (shareholder of Xavier Niel) world individually) offered to Vodafone UK to acquire its Italian subsidiary.Bloomberg revealed that the information was in world Iliad CEO Thomas Reynolds. The French group did not provide any details about its offer or financing terms. Iliad has not been listed on the stock exchange since Xavier Niel made a takeover offer in mid-2021. Vodafone declined to comment.
If its proposal is accepted by the British bloc, the Iliad will take a big step forward in Italy. The operator, which entered the market in 2018, has managed to win over 8 million customers, or about 10 percent of the mobile phone market, after buying frequencies from duo Wind Tre two years ago. Vodafone has more than 18 million. As a result, the Iliad will have nearly a third of the Italian mobile market.
The group’s aggressive pricing policy to support its Italian campaign has cost Xavier Niel’s team dearly. The subsidiary has been in balance since the first half of 2021, but accumulated operating losses of almost 450 million euros between 2018 and 2020 and continues to burn through cash. The acquisition of Vodafone Italia’s network is much larger than that of the French group, which will allow Iliad to save a lot of investment.
The most competitive market in Europe
The inventors of Freebox, which just launched landline service in the region in January, could also benefit from Vodafone’s 3 million Italian customers in the field. The desire for this marriage is also to quell the tariff war that Iliad has launched since his arrival, followed by the three major operators – Telecom Italia, Vodafone and Wind Tre – and led by several so-called small virtual operators (or “MVNOs”) ”) because they don’t have a network, like La Poste Mobile.
Analysts at JPMorgan Chase predict that the turnover of the four major Italian operators will decline by 3% overall in 2021, which will make Italy the most competitive market in Europe. For Vodafone, Iliad’s proposal fell through under pressure from two activist investors. Swedish fund Cevian Capital joined in January, and more recently Coast Capital, a smaller firm.
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