Orange targets Yoigo and Jazztel and plans to speed up network expansion
Federico Colom, finance director for Orange's Spanish unit, revealed on Wednesday plans to take any acquisition opportunities in that country, reported Expansion. Speaking at a sector event, Colom said that should the Spanish broad band cable operator Jazztel or the mobile operator Yoigo be put up for sale, Orange would be a keen suitor, according to the report.
Orange plans to to expand its own fiber network in Spain and increase investments to reach 4m homes by 2017, reported Expansion. The new project doubles Orange's initial plan to build a network on its own to reach 2m homes. With this new strategy, Orange could end up with a network that may reach up to 7m homes by 2017.
TeliaSonera, the Swedish operator, has put up for sale its 76% in Spanish mobile unit Yoigo, also targeted by Vodafone and Jazztel, according to the report. A previous sale process was cancelled in April 2013 because TeliaSonera deemed the offers tabled by Vodafone and Orange insufficient. Yoigo was then valued at around EUR 1bn.
Orange rival Telefonica expects to reach more than 10m homes this year and up to 18m by 2016, and Vodafone's acquisition of Ono has given the UK operator access to high-speed networks in 7.5m homes, the item noted.
Source Expansion