The Competition Authority has just authorized the acquisition of the virtual operator La Poste Mobile by Bouygues Telecom, which should recover the 2.3 million subscribers. Provided that SFR agrees…
A real upheaval is brewing for La Poste Mobile and its 2.3 million customers in France! The group has in fact decided to sell its shares to another operator. Orange, Free and Bouygues Telecom quickly expressed their interest, which is hardly surprising given that La Poste Mobile is today the last virtual mobile network operator – or MVNO, Mobile Virtual Network Operator in English – independent and has managed to become the fifth operator in our country. In thirteen years, it has achieved great success in a very competitive market, in particular by taking advantage of excellent visibility in the nearly 7,000 post offices spread across the country and by offering advantageous rates.
And it is ultimately Bouygues Telecom that should get its hands on this nugget, at the price of a transaction of 950 million euros – this sum corresponds to the value of La Poste Telecom shares, while its enterprise value is set at 963.4 million euros. The Competition Authority has just authorized this acquisition “without conditions”, after having “removed any risk of harm to competition linked to the transaction on the markets concerned”This announcement ends more than six months of exclusive negotiations, during which Bouygues Telecom patiently consolidated its acquisition project. However, SFR must validate the acquisition.
La Poste Mobile: a resale that can bring in big money
As reported The EchoesLa Poste began last January to seek to sell its shares, which represent 51% of the MVNO. Contacted, La Poste confirmed “having started thinking about the evolution of the capital of La Poste Mobile with the aim of promoting the success of the brand, leader of the French market of virtual operators, and of accelerating its development”. The new head of La Banque Postale, Stéphane Dedeyan, wants to clean up the accounts of the public group. In December, we already learned that he wanted to sell his subsidiary Ma French Bank in the online banking sector, because the service had not reached profitability, in the face of fierce competition from neobanks and online banks. However, the situation is different for La Poste Mobile, because the MVNO became profitable in 2022, making a profit of 2.38 million euros, and, according to estimates, its turnover should reach 336 million euros in 2024.
Thus, it is Bouygues Telecom, which has bought a lot of MVNOs in recent years, which will be able to recover the 2.3 million customers of La Poste Mobile. A significant addition to the operator’s 23 million users. “Thanks to this agreement, Bouygues Telecom will be able to increase its customer base and strengthen its position in Mobile and Fixed Line by relying on the Post Office distribution network throughout the country.”explained Benoît Torloting, CEO of Bouygues Telecom. The operator would also benefit from an exclusive distribution partnership involving the La Poste group, La Banque Postale and La Poste Telecom.
However, this acquisition cannot be made without the approval of SFR, which holds 49% of the company’s shares and leases its network until 2026. Under this contract, Patrick Drahi’s firm has a right of veto over purchase proposals, but also has priority if it ever wanted to position itself. This could be a good opportunity for the operator, which is currently having some difficulty retaining its subscribers. Such an operation would allow it to recover La Poste Mobile’s customers by becoming the majority shareholder of a company that is doing well – it is posting average growth of 8% each year – while strengthening its image. However, knowing that SFR’s parent company, Altice France, is currently in debt to the tune of more than 20 billion euros, it is difficult for it to raise the funds needed for the acquisition.
La Poste Mobile: SFR drags out the sale
As reported The Worldthe Competition Authority validated the acquisition by Bouygues Telecom because it “considered that the transaction is not likely to harm competition due to La Poste Telecom’s limited market share. […] It also took into account the competition exerted mainly by the MNOs competing with Bouygues Telecom: Orange, SFR and Free”. She also indicates having “removed the risk” that Bouygues Telecom does not degrade or refuse access to its network to virtual operators competing with La Poste Telecom, which do not have infrastructure and rent the networks of the giants of the sector. The only black spot on the horizon: SFR is contesting the terms of the transaction, hoping to recover at least 700 million of the 950 million promised by the sale, leaving only the leftovers for La Poste – which nevertheless holds 51% of the shares. This could drag out the sale…
If successful, the operation should not have a major impact on subscribers. The operator confirms that it “will keep its identity and will continue to be distributed in some 7,000 post offices.” This is mainly an accounting operation. The only real change is the change of network from 2026, when users will migrate from the SFR network to that of Bouygues Telecom. But if the operation should be invisible to customers, it could still have an impact on the market, particularly in terms of subscription prices.