Xavier Niel aims to expand into Latin America. The French manager, founder of Iliad, wants to buy the entire capital of Millicom through the vehicle Atlas Investissement, thus continuing its international expansion. Currently the French TLC group has a 29% stake in the company.
As Iliad announced, the deal offers $24 per share and values Millicom at $4.1 billion.
Listed in Sweden and the United States, with headquarters in Luxembourg, Millicom is present in 9 countries in Latin America. The company generated revenues of $5.66 billion in 2023.
Niel’s Expansion Strategy
Owner of Iliad, a telecommunications group present in France, Italy and Poland, Niel has made a series of personal investments in the sector in a dozen European countries, including through NJJ, his holding company which hosts telecommunications assets in particular in Switzerland, or his company Carraun, owner of the Irish operator Eir.
Niel, which thanks to this international expansion boasts 50 million subscribers and more than 10 billion euros in combined revenue, is also the owner of the operator Monaco Telecom.
In January, he announced his intention to acquire Ukrainian mobile operator Lifecell, through his personal holding company NJJ, for a sum of “500 million dollars”.
At the end of February, Freya, an investment vehicle jointly owned by Iliad and NJJ, announced the acquisition of 19.8% of Tele2, a leading operator in Sweden and the Baltics.
Iliad attempted to acquire its Italian competitor Vodafone Italia in December but this proposal was rejected at the end of January, after an initial failure of the operation in February 2022.
