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Stephane Richard says 50:50 chance of telcos agreeing a merger deal.
Orange chief executive Stephane Richard this week said he expects merger talks with Bouygues Telecom to conclude in about a month, adding that there is a 50:50 chance of a deal emerging.
Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Paris on Wednesday, Richard said talks should draw to a close in late February or early March.
He also said that there is a "positive dynamic" to the discussions.
After much speculation, Orange and Bouygues announced they were holding merger talks in early January.
Various sources have put the value of any deal at around €10 billion, but Orange and Bouygues have not commented on price.
Given that Orange is the largest operator in the French market, any deal would likely require significant remedies in order to gain regulatory support, which could lead to a rebalancing of the mobile market, creating competition between three strong players.
There is doubt over whether the European Commission would approve such a deal though, given that it blocked TeliaSonera and Telenor’s plans to merge in Denmark last year on the grounds that the market required four operators to remain competitive.
However, a fortnight ago Reuters cited unnamed sources as saying that French competition authorities will examine any deal, rather than the European Commission.
