This transaction follows the signing of a binding agreement with Lorca (owned by private equity funds Cinven, KKR, and Providence) on 12 December 2025, under which Orange agreed to acquire full ownership of MasOrange for a cash consideration of 4.25 billion euro. Since then, Orange has obtained all the necessary approvals for the transaction to be completed, including from the European Commission.

Christel Heydemann, Chief Executive Officer of the Orange group, said, “Acquiring full ownership of MasOrange is a strategic step of our Trust the future plan and strengthens Orange’s position in Spain, our second-largest market in Europe. It paves the way for accelerated industrial, operational, and commercial synergies, supporting greater value creation. With full ownership comes full agility; MasOrange can now move at full speed backed by the strength and scale of the Orange group.”

Meinrad Spenger, chief executive officer of MasOrange, added, “By becoming fully part of the Orange group, MasOrange now has an even stronger foundation for future growth. It will allow us to accelerate our momentum in the Spanish market, supported by a greater capacity for investment and innovation as well as global expertise. This is good news for the Spanish consumers, enterprises, and public administrations, since we will continue to provide them high-quality and innovative services while benefiting from the Orange group’s industrial strength and scale to create even more value in Spain.”

As a follow-up to this transaction, Meinrad Spenger will join the Orange Group’s Executive Committee. This appointment reflects the strategic importance of Spain for the Group and will further leverage his recognized experience in the telecommunications market and his leadership in advancing MasOrange’s development.

MasOrange is currently the leading operator in the Spanish market by customer base and customer satisfaction. At the end of Q1 2026, it had 26 million mobile customers and 7.1 million fixed broadband customers. The venture relies on the most advanced leading fiber and 5G mobile infrastructure, enabling it to provide high-quality connectivity and other innovative services across the European country to meet the needs of public administrations, consumers, and business customers.

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If the deal is approved, it will be the end of the four-player era in the French mobile market and will be the beginning of an infrastructure-heavy model. Through this announcement, Orange is trying to solidify its dominance in fibre optic deployment and 5G infrastructure.

The deal involves a structure where Orange leads a consortium in negotiations with Bouygues and Iliad, the parent company of Free. As part of the plan, Orange intends to absorb SFR’s massive subscriber base while divesting specific assets to avoid potential antitrust probes.

Industry analysts label this as a defensive consolidation. They claim it is mostly powered by the demand for high capital expenditure for 6G R&D and the saturation of the European mobile market.

The Orange Group press release stated: “The scale required to compete with global tech giants and state-backed operators from Asia is no longer achievable in a fragmented market.”

The CAC 40 (Cotation Assistée en Continu) is the benchmark stock market index for France. It tracks the performance of the 40 largest and most significant companies listed on the Euronext Paris exchange.

They welcomed this announcement, though a rigorous vetting process from the European Commission’s competition watchdog and French regulator, ARCEP, will follow. Regulators in the EU have been historically wary of reducing the number of players from four to three, fearing that prices won’t be competitive for consumers anymore.

Orange has made a stability pledge and promised to maintain current pricing tiers for a fixed period, and has committed to accelerated rural connectivity targets. The involvement of Bouygues and Iliad in the negotiations is a complex carving strategy designed to ensure that no single entity gains an unfair monopoly over the nation’s spectrum.

SFR is a brand that has long been associated with Altice’s aggressive expansion, and the integration of SFR is going to be a multi-year project. For Orange, this is not about market share capture but more about the convergence of services.

SFR’s B2B wing has an extensive cable network, while Orange will be the undisputed leader in European quadruple play services, which include mobile, broadband, TV, and fixed line offerings.

The talks continue through the second quarter of 2026, and the telecom sector is watching the negotiations closely. If the Orange-SFR deal is successful, it will be a blueprint for similar consolidations in Germany and Spain, leading to a more resilient but less crowded European telecommunications sector.

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Clive Hamilton will join 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.

Clive Hamilton told the media, “Covid-19 has cemented the market direction towards a services led approach to cybersecurity. With an increasingly dispersed workforce and global economy, customers are demanding to work with a cyber-security partner that can build a solution to meet their business models that are increasingly reliant on digitisation.”

“With a blended approach of people, process and technology, coupled with the growth of the UK team plus the backing of a multinational organization, Orange Cyberdefense has the skills, experience and focus to work in partnership with customers to drive their commercial success in a scalable and secure way by placing cybersecurity at the heart of their digital transformation initiatives.”

The company has also filled other top positions along with the appointment of Clive. Orange Cyberdefense appointed Mohammed Lateef as UK Finance Director. Mohammed has extensive experience in financial management roles. Previously, he served as the Head of Finance and Operations for Xenith, and prior to that, Group Financial Controller of Six Degrees Group.

Orange appointed Stuart Reed, as its new UK Product and Marketing Director. Stuart has broad experience in the cybersecurity and technology industry. He has previously worked with the likes of giants such as Sony and NTT Security.

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