Altice interested in acquiring KPN

Undaunted by last week’s rejection of its €10 billion offer by France’s Bouygues for its telecom unit, Numericable-SFR owner Altice has declared an interest in a possible acquisition of Dutch telco KPN.

Altice CEO Dexter Goei told Dutch daily De Telegraaf that the group was interested in KPN but added that the two companies were not holding any talks.

Goei told the paper that an acquisition of KPN by Altice would benefit the Dutch economy and national infrastructure, adding that his company was well-placed to invest more each year in the Dutch network than KPN is currently doing.

Goei said Altice was in no hurry to present an offer, adding that the company’s approach to acquisitions was non-hostile.

Altice last week said it was reorganizing its structure, creating a Dutch base and restructuring its capital in a way that will help boss Patrick Drahi retain control in the event of a capital increase to make further acquisitions.