SFR Acquisition, Valuation, Funding & Investors

China Unicom is the incumbent fixed-line operator in 10 northern Chinese provinces, as well as the third-largest wireless operator nationwide. As of June 2025, it had around 355 million billing wireless customers and over 125 million fixed-line subscribers. China Unicom also has a growing ICT business. We estimate it has the third largest internet data center business in China with 420,000 cabinets and its Cloud Service revenue is also showing strong growth. It has its own 4G network and shares the radio access function with China Telecom for its 5G network.

MTN Group Ltd is a mobile telecommunications provider operating across South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Syria, and Sudan. The majority of the company's revenue is earned in South Africa and Nigeria. The company also has a joint venture in Iran. From a product perspective, the majority of its revenue is from voice and data. Other contributors include SMS and sale of devices revenue. MTN also provides enterprise services to small/midsize enterprises and corporate clients. The company owns the mobile infrastructure and data centers. Its segments include Network services, Mobile devices, Inter connect and roaming, Digital and fintech and others.

Telefonica is a telecom operator with presence in Spain (where it is the incumbent operator), the UK, Germany, Brazil, and Latin American countries. The company derives more than 30% of its revenue from Spain, close to 20% from Germany, and 20% from Brazil. Its UK operations are held through a joint venture with Virgin Media. For several years Telefonica has been simplifying its corporate structure by selling noncore assets.

BCE provides wireless, broadband, television, and landline phone services in Canada. It is one of the Big Three national wireless carriers, with over 10 million customers constituting about 30% of the market. It is also the incumbent local exchange carrier—the legacy telephone provider—throughout much of the eastern half of Canada, including in the most populous Canadian provinces: Ontario and Quebec. BCE has a media segment that holds television, radio, and digital media assets. BCE licenses the Canadian rights to HBO Max and Starz.

BT Group is the incumbent telecommunications operator in the UK. BT is the owner of Openreach, the largest fixed-line network in the country. Openreach operates as a separate entity due to regulatory requirements but is still 100% owned by BT. Openreach has accelerated its fiber investments and expects to have 90% of the UK covered with FTTH by 2026. In the consumer division, BT has approximately 30% market share in broadband and mobile services. The enterprise segment serves large corporations while the global services division provides communications consultancy services.

Telenor is an international provider of telecommunications services. It is the incumbent dominant telecom operator in Norway, and the Norwegian government holds a stake of more than 50% in the firm. Telenor also operates in other Nordic countries like Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, and owns several businesses in Asia. Most of Telenor's operations are mobile businesses, although it also has some fixed-line operations in Nordic European countries.

Bouygues is a family-controlled French conglomerate that comprises a disparate range of assets: construction businesses, a TV network, and a telecom network. It is one of the largest construction companies in France and Europe, with over EUR 45 billion in revenue across the four engineering, procurement, and construction businesses under its ownership, as well as one of the four telecom operators in France.

China United Network Communications Ltd is a Chinese telecom operator. It operates fixed and mobile communications services, as well as domestic and international communications facilities, a satellite IPLC service, a data communications service, a network access service, value-added telecom services, and system integration services related to information and communications services. The company provides its products to personal & residential customers, small & medium businesses, VIP customers, and international customers.

Rogers Communications is the largest wireless service provider in Canada with more than 11 million subscribers, equating to one-third of the total Canadian market. Rogers' wireless business accounts for more than half of total revenue and has been growing at a higher rate than other segments. The cable segment, which provides about 38% of total revenue after acquiring Shaw, offers home internet, television, and landline phone service to consumers and businesses. Remaining sales come from Rogers' media unit, which owns and operates various television and radio stations and major Toronto sports franchises, including the Blue Jays, Maple Leafs, Raptors, Toronto FC, and Argonauts.

Telia is the incumbent telecom operator in Sweden. It also operates in Norway, Finland and the Baltic countries. In the past five years, Telia has been narrowing its business focus, divesting businesses in Asia and focusing on its core markets.

Telefonica Brasil, known as Vivo, is the largest wireless carrier in Brazil with 102 million customers, which is equal to about 39% market share. The firm is strongest in the postpaid business, where it has 68 million customers, or about 41% share of this market. Wireless services and equipment contribute about 70% of total revenue. Vivo is the incumbent fixed-line telephone operator in Sao Paulo state and also owns an extensive fiber network across the country. The firm provides internet access to 8 million households on this network. The firm also sells pay-TV and phone services to its fixed-line customers. Finally, corporate data and IT services, including cloud computing support, contribute about 9% of total revenue.

Telecom Italia is the incumbent telecommunications operator in Italy, with 23% share in the Italian mobile market and 35% share in broadband. In the mobile market, it competes with Vodafone, WindTre, and Iliad. After the sale of its fixed network to KKR for EUR 18.8 billion in 2024, TIM has become a pure service provider with no network ownership. TIM Brazil is significantly smaller than its peers, Telefonica and America Movil, with 25% wireless market share.

Vodacom Group Ltd is a telecommunications provider. The company provides fixed-line, broadband, and mobile services. It earns revenue through two main segments: South Africa and international. International includes regions such as Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, and Lesotho; the majority of revenue is sourced from South Africa. Vodacom also has an enterprise service product, whereby telecommunications and managed services are offered to enterprises. The company owns mobile infrastructure.

KPN is the incumbent telecommunications operator in the Netherlands. It has 40% share of the broadband market and 20% of the postpaid mobile market, with VodafoneZiggo (mobile and fixed) and Odido (mobile) as main competitors. KPN is rolling out fiber to the home in the Netherlands and expects to have most of the country covered by 2026. KPN's management has a cost-conscious mentality, something that has allowed it to grow dividends at midsingle digits over many years.

VodafoneThree delivers telecommunications in the UK following the combination of Vodafone UK and Three UK. Consumers and businesses access mobile voice, data, 5G, fixed wireless access, and fibre broadband. The infrastructure merges spectrum and assets from both entities for nationwide coverage, backed by 5G standalone upgrades.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited is India's largest wireless telecommunications provider, offering 4G LTE and 5G services nationwide since its 2016 launch. The company delivers high-speed data, voice calls via VoLTE, messaging, and digital services through the Jio app ecosystem. It distributes affordable smartphones like JioPhone and LYF devices, while investing in AI, IoT, blockchain, and cloud infrastructure. Headquartered in Navi Mumbai, Reliance Jio operates over 450,000 towers and serves more than 450 million subscribers, dominating the market with free voice calls and low-cost data plans.

Bezeq International is Israel's leading international telecommunications provider, founded in 1996 as a subsidiary of Bezeq Group and headquartered in Petah Tikva. The company delivers broadband internet up to 1 Gbps, international calling, cloud hosting, and cybersecurity services to 1 million+ residential and business customers. It operates data centers in Israel and Europe, connecting to 400+ global carriers for low-latency VoIP and MPLS networks.

Regional Link Telecom Services is a telecommunications provider operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of HKT Limited in Hong Kong. The company delivers fixed-line telephony, broadband internet, and data connectivity solutions primarily to business customers across the region. Established to support HKT's enterprise segment, it maintains infrastructure in key commercial districts of Hong Kong, including Central and Kowloon. Regional Link handles network maintenance and expansion projects valued at hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars annually. Its services integrate with HKT's broader ecosystem, enabling seamless connectivity for multinational corporations headquartered in Hong Kong such as HSBC and Standard Chartered.