French billionaire makes fresh bid for Bouygues

Paris

PATRICK Drahi, the owner of France's No 2 telecoms player Numericable-SFR, has offered to buy smaller rival Bouygues Telecom for about 10 billion euros (S$15.2 billion) in cash, two people familiar with the matter said.

The move, which was first reported by the Journal de Dimanche, would take the French mobile market from four to three players at a time when the merits of such consolidations are being hotly debated in Europe.

Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron reiterated on Sunday his view that the time was not right for consolidation in the sector, which he said needed investment. France will soon kick off an auction for 4G mobile spectrum an…