France Telecom yesterday sealed a $37 billion (€39.7 billion) cash and share deal to buy British mobile operator Orange and vowed to take the Orange brand global.
The deal with Vodafone Airtouch, which had to sell Orange to win regulatory approval for its purchase of Germany's Mannesmann, has created a European cellphone group the French hope will be worth $141 billion by a listing at yearend. France Telecom's chairman, Mr Michel Bon, had feared the deal would fall apart. But instead it sets the total Orange price at $46.25 billion, including debt.
Dutch carrier KPN Telecom and MCI WorldCom of the US were also prowling around Britain's third biggest but youngest cellphone group.
Orange was the last independent, pure mobile operator up for grabs in Europe. Its sale sparked massive interest as existing carriers sought fat new revenues streams from expected surging demand for new generation mobile Internet and data services.
France Telecom is paying Vodafone £13.8 billion sterling (€22.1 billion) in cash and £11.3 billion in France Telecom shares.
