Martin Bouygues: Why I did not sell Bouygues Telecom Orange – Le Figaro

EXCLUSIVE – The Bouygues Telecom wedding plans with Orange was buried Friday. In an interview with Le Figaro , Martin Bouygues explains the failure of the project.

“Some people thought I was bluffing and I was negotiating backs to the wall. It was stupid and even childish to think. ” As usual, Martin Bouygues does not mince words. In an interview with Le Figaro , the CEO of the Bouygues group explains the reasons for the failure of negotiations that had begun three months earlier with Orange, which would have resulted in a distribution of assets Bouygues Telecom between Orange, SFR and Free

“READ – Martin Bouygues.” We were four at the negotiating table, but only three to want to succeed “

“My first concern, essential, was the maintenance of jobs and status of employees of Bouygues Telecom. The second was that I believe in the future of the telecommunications sector and that I wanted the Bouygues group remains a player in this sector, and therefore it finds its shareholder up at Orange. Then I asked that the transaction amount is close to the offer we had made Patrick Drahi it a year ago. Finally, Bouygues should not bear alone the risk of execution. All these conditions, I have outlined very clearly from the start. There was no possible misunderstanding, “says Martin Bouygues. “If we were four in the table, there were only three to want to succeed. Clearly, one of the protagonists harbored the ambition to have the maximum pay the minimum, while keeping the possibility to withdraw. ” Martin Bouygues refuses to say more. However, the history of trading (in Le Figaro 2 April) attests to the fact that Free, owned by Xavier Niel, have sought maximum guarantees in case of the operation of realization .

Martin Bouygues, in any case, the lack of agreement between the four operators weighed more heavily in the balance than the state requirements. “If we were to reach an agreement between the four operators, that subject would have ended, I imagine, find its solution,” he said, while agreeing to have “found it very strange” the requirements of Bercy.

In the future, the CEO of the Bouygues group appears serene. “The consolidation of the French market made sense. But since it does not happen, we will continue to evolve in a market with four operators. (…) As for Bouygues Telecom, I’m not worried. The company is perfectly viable in a market four. She is the first to have made rationalization efforts, considerable. Its cost structure is one of the lowest in the market, and has one of the best mobile networks. The first quarter demonstrate our growth both in the fixed and in mobile. We, with the cash flows and the power of the Bouygues group, the means to invest and further develop Bouygues Telecom. “

” Discover the full interview of Martin Bouygues in Le Figaro from Monday, 4 April and now in the space of Premium figaro.fr