French Firms Raise SFR Bid to €20 Billion to Consolidate Market

A consortium of French phone carriers got a step closer to buying billionaire Patrick Drahi’s SFR, proposing a €20.4 billion ($24 billion) deal that would eliminate a competitor from the market and test the European Union’s appetite for consolidation.

Bouygues Telecom, Iliad SA and Orange SA have raised their offer for the country’s second-largest mobile carrier — part of Altice France — and will hold exclusive negotiations through May 15, the companies said in a statement Friday. The proposal is up 20% from an initial €17 billion bid that Altice rejected in October. Drahi had been seeking a valuation of more than €20 billion, Bloomberg previously reported.