Orange and MásMóvil close their merger and create the leader of 'telecos' by customers

Orange and MásMóvil have announced today the creation of their new Joint Venture , thus completing the agreement to combine their operations in Spain, as EXPANSIÓN announced yesterday. Orange and MásMóvil shareholders each own a 50% stake in the Joint Venture with equal governance rights in the combined entity. Orange ‘s subsidiaries in Spain are 100% controlled by the French telecommunications group, which has a participation of the French State of around 23% of the capital. For its part, MásMóvil is owned around 85% by the Anglo-Saxon venture capital groups KKR, Providence and Cinven, while the remaining 15% of the capital is owned by a group of Spanish shareholders, including the Ybarra Careaga family, José Eulalio Poza and Inveready, the venture capital fund controlled by Josep María Echarri.

With more than 37 million lines between broadband and mobile (7.7 million broadband and 30.2 million mobile lines) the new entity becomes the leading operator in the telecommunications market in Spain by number of clients. The firm has indicated that it also wants to lead in fiber and mobile coverage. The two companies have explained that “its creation gives rise to a sustainable operator with the necessary financial capacity to continue investing in new generation networks for the benefit of the market, consumers and Spanish companies.”

According to revised estimates, the new company is expected to generate synergies of more than €490 million per year starting in the fourth year after closure. According to the preliminary closing accounts, the asymmetric mega-dividend that will be distributed will be approximately 4.4 billion for Orange and approximately 1.65 billion for MásMóvil shareholders. This means for Orange an additional 200 million euros compared to what was expected , as EXPANSIÓN announced yesterday.

The companies ( Orange España and MásMóvil ) will operate as a single entity. The accounts of both companies will be consolidated into a new legal entity already registered. As planned, the new company is operational as of today.

Jean François Fallacher, current CEO of Orange France, has been appointed non-executive president of the new Company. Jean François, who served as CEO of Orange Spain between September 2020 and April 2023, has extensive experience in the Spanish market.

The Board of Directors of the Joint-Venture has also confirmed the appointment as CEO of Meinrad Spenger , CEO of MásMóvil since 2006, and of Alberto Castañeda, as Secretary of the Board of Directors. Ludovic Pech and Germán López have also been confirmed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Operating Officer (COO), respectively.

Christel Heydeman, CEO of Orange, said: “Today’s announcement is an important step in the development of Orange’s long-term strategic plan in Europe. By creating a stronger and more sustainable operator, the Joint Venture launched today will help drive “Innovation and investment in high-speed broadband and digital services in Spain. This is clearly a positive step forward in our overall vision of a strong and prosperous European telecommunications industry.”

“It is a great honor and an enormous responsibility to offer service to our more than 30M clients in Spain. We will strive to ensure that they continue to be the most satisfied clients in our country. With this Joint Venture the Spanish telecommunications market now has a stronger company, with the capacity to innovate and invest and to become the trusted partner for our individual and corporate clients,” said Meinrad Spenger, CEO of the Joint Venture.

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