French telecom giants eye new bid for rival Altice’s SFR

French telecoms operators Orange , Bouygues Telecom and Iliad-owned Free said on ‌Thursday they ‌were in ongoing talks with Altice Group to buy a large part of its telecommunications activities in ‌France.

Due diligence started in early January, the three companies said in a joint statement, though they added there was no certainty the process would result in an agreement as the legal and financial terms of the deal had not yet been agreed upon. Orange, Bouygues Telecom and Iliad had launched a bid in October to acquire Altice’s assets, valuing them at ‌17 billion ‍euros ($19.9 billion), but the group owned by billionaire Patrick Drahi swiftly ‍rejected the offer.