Iliad Soars 62% After Buyout Offer From Billionaire Niel
- Challenger carrier has been struggling to retain customers
- Move takes another chunk of French telecoms off the market
Xavier Niel
Photographer: Eric Piermont/AFP/Getty Images
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French billionaire Xavier Niel is joining rival Patrick Drahi in taking his phone company private after customer losses and heavy spending sent its shares into a steady decline.
Iliad SA shares jumped as much as 62% to Niel’s offer price of 182 euros. The deal values Iliad at about 10.85 billion euros ($12.9 billion), according to Bloomberg calculations.