Bouygues tries to seduce Dassault and Qatar
Martin Bouygues seeks partners to improve its bid for SFR . His opponent Numericable guard ahead
Martin Bouygues plays his all . There are only five days Bouygues CEO to try to turn the tide and win SFR, sold by Vivendi. Giant telecommunications and media entered since March 14 into exclusive negotiations with Numericable to cede control of the second French mobile operator. Talks last until Friday. This April 4 , Vivendi will tell if he sells SFR Numericable or if investigating the option of Bouygues.
For fifteen days, the construction group is looking for money . Everywhere. He multiplied the all-round contacts for " finding new partners may buy out 21% Vivendi keep in Bouygues , SFR ," said a source close . Nothing will be unveiled in the coming days . This scenario would not occur until the completion of the transaction at the end of the year. Advantage? It allows us to offer more cash than the 13.15 billion euros on a total supply current of € 17.4 billion . According to several sources , the sovereign fund of Qatar was approached and discussed with Bouygues to financially support the project. The position of the emirate proves difficult as he is already a shareholder of Vivendi , the seller. A conflict of interest as regards the Deposit partner on both sides. For a ticket of approximately € 500 million of investment funds were also contacted as CVC , Eurazeo or U.S. KKR and Apollo , who , themselves, have declined.
Patrick Drahi is very confident
Martin Bouygues also seeks among the great fortune to join the French Pinault and Decaux, already at his side. According to our information , the Dassault family was asked to participate in the round. What nobody denies the entourage of Bouygues . The owner Philippe Louis -Dreyfus , whose family has owned the operator Neuf before it was acquired by SFR, would , in turn , rejected the proposal to return to telecoms. Complex, the project Bouygues fails to convince .
Faced with the onslaught of construction giant , Numericable plays "Zen" card. A friend of the boss, Patrick Drahi , said: "I got on the phone this week , it is very sure of himself, he is not worried . " " Everything is going as planned, explains his entourage. We remain confident and serene face to the offer Bouygues considered hostile. " Drahi also