Press release

European Commission green lights Orange and MASMOVIL Joint Venture, paving the way for a single, stronger operator in Spain

        
Press Release
Paris and Madrid, 20 February 2024

European Commission green lights Orange and MASMOVIL Joint Venture, paving the way for a single, stronger operator in Spain

• This favourable decision takes into account the specificities of the highly competitive Spanish market, with balanced remedies in favour of an already existing player.
• Orange and MASMOVIL plan to complete the transaction by end Q1 2024.
• This deal paves the way for the creation of a joint company that combines the forces of Orange and MASMOVIL into a single, stronger operator focussed on customer satisfaction and positive impact, with the scale to invest in 5G and fiber, benefiting the market, consumers and businesses across Spain.
  
  

Orange and MASMOVIL have today received clearance from the European Commission to combine their operations in Spain¹. As previously stated on July 23^rd 2022, the combined activities of Orange Spain and MASMOVIL will take the form of a 50-50 joint venture, co-controlled by Orange and MASMOVIL (LORCA JVCO), with equal governance rights in the combined entity.

This Joint Venture between MASMOVIL and Orange will create a leading operator of the Spanish market in terms of customers, user experience, talent, fiber and mobile coverage and a sustainable player with the financial capacity to continue investing in the development of a leading telecom infrastructure in Spain.

Both parties would convert into a leading operator, bringing together the assets, capabilities and teams of the two companies in Spain to serve +7.3M fixed customers, +30M mobile services and +2.2M TV customers². The Joint Venture would manage important network and IT assets to assure a nationwide coverage both in FTTH as well as 4G/5G. In financial terms, the combined entity would become a stronger and solid market player with estimated revenues of above €7.4 billion and EBITDAaL of over €2.3 billion, with an enterprise value of €18.6 billion and expected synergies of more than €450m per year (from year four post-closing).

As part of its proposed package of remedies, the parties have agreed to divest to Digi as remedy taker 60MHz of spectrum assets (pending approval from the Spanish Government) and to propose an optional national roaming agreement at market conditions.

Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange, commented: “Today’s announcement is a crucial moment for the future development of the Group in Europe. Our proposed Joint Venture with MASMOVIL will create a single, stronger, and more sustainable player in Spain. By joining forces, we can scale, we can innovate, and we can drive investment in Spain for the benefit of consumers and businesses.”