Orange Concessions is valued at €2.675 billion. The deal, which is expected to close by the end of this year, includes a call option that will allow the Paris-headquartered company to take control and consolidate Orange Concessions in the future.

Stephane Richard, chairman and chief executive at Orange told the media, “To pursue the development of fiber in rural areas by winning new public initiative networks or by participating in market consolidation.”

“I am delighted that Orange is now set to establish this partnership in its domestic market with recognized investors who share our vision of digital communication infrastructure development. This is a key milestone in the delivery of our Engage 2025 strategic plan. As to its financial merits, the achieved valuation reveals the value of Orange’s investments in fiber as well as the relevance of such strategic move.”

Orange Cyberdefense, the cybersecurity unit of Orange Group announced the appointment of Clive Hamilton as its new managing director (MD) in October last year. Clive Hamilton joined Orange after spending more than 13 years at NTT Europe, where has also served as its managing director. He has 30 years of global ICT experience in network, cloud, datacentre, security and voice services.

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Both Liberty Global and Telefonica will own 50 percent each of the new joint venture, which will be valued at around $38 billion. The board of directors for the new company will have eight members four O2 and four from Virgin.

The chairman’s position for the new company will be altered every two years.

The joint venture will compete directly with BT, which is the only operator in the UK to own both a mobile and fixed network, and it’s been investing to upgrade to fiber-optic broadband.

The companies expect total synergies of £6.2 billion after integration costs of an estimated £700 million.

The deal between Virgin and O2, which started last December, is expected to reshape the telecom sector in the UK as it brings together the second-largest broadband network with the largest mobile network, which has 26 million direct customers and 34 million non-direct clients, via brands such as Tesco Mobile and business users.

Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, chairman and chief executive of Telefonica told the media, “Combining O2’s number one mobile business with Virgin Media’s superfast broadband network and entertainment services will be a game-changer in the UK, at a time when demand for connectivity has never been greater or more critical.”

According to the Financial Times, Telefonica will receive £5.7 billion in cash to help it reduce its heavy debt position along with an equalising payment from Liberty Global of £2.5 billion reflecting Virgin Media’s £11.3 billion of debt.

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