Iliad, parent company of Free, planned to merge its activities with those of Vodafone in Italy. But the British actor preferred to reject the proposal.
After once again surprising the world with a daring Freebox Ultra tinged with Wi-Fi 7 and streaming services as you name it, Iliad has not had any good news. The French group, present in Italy since 2018, saw Vodafone politely shut the loss in its face in the Peninsula. Xavier Niel’s operator hoped to create a telecoms giant on the other side of the Alps.
An Italian telecoms giant that will not see the light of day
On December 18, Iliad sent a proposal to merge their respective activities with Vodafone, to create a new entity in Italy, capable of competing in number of subscribers with the operator TIM, leader in the country, and to boost the innovation in the Boot.
The marriage would have given rise to a NewCo, a new company owned 50-50 by the two operators, which together are now worth around 15 billion euros. And if a first approach, initiated at the beginning of 2022, was postponed, this time the leaders of Iliad had more hope.
Iliad, disappointed, will continue to capitalize on what works in Italy
This Wednesday, January 31, 2024, Vodafone rejected Iliad’s revised proposal. The French group, inevitably disappointed, indicated this Wednesday that “ the merger of these two companies would provide, by far, the best solution to support the Italian telecommunications sector “.
So, what does Iliad have planned in Italy now? The operator, who took note of the decision, will continue its current strategy and capitalize on its successes in the country. Iliad now has 10.5 million mobile subscribers. On landlines, where it entered the market with its iliadbox in January 2022, the group recorded the biggest gain in new subscribers of the five major Italian operators.
“ The Iliad group intends to continue to strengthen its positions on the Italian market and pursue its offensive strategy in terms of market share gains in all segments. », writes the Parisian company in a press release. Not sure this time that Iliad will attack Vodafone again.
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