While football fans are glued to the World Cup, the industry’s telecoms titans have been tinkering with their own super-squads. But will the watchdogs give these M&A matches the regulatory red card?
We cover the highlights below in this edition of the M&A Monthly, where TeleGeography’s GlobalComms team tracks the deals that keep the world connected.
(Read last month’s M&A Monthly here.)
Europe
At the beginning of June, Orange Group completed the acquisition of the 50% stake in MasOrange held by Lorca, its joint venture partner in Spain. The group now owns 100% of the operator’s capital and will fully consolidate MasOrange’s results in its financial statements going forward.
Elsewhere, Telenor Group announced that its proposed acquisition of GlobalConnect’s consumer fiber business in Norway has been approved, subject to conditions, by the National Communications Authority (Nasjonal kommunikasjonsmyndighet, Nkom). The NOK6.0 billion ($594 million) deal was originally inked back in July 2025.
In more good news for Telenor, a matter of days later the Norwegian group announced an agreement to acquire Enivest, one of the leading fiber operators in Western Norway. That transaction is valued at NOK2.5 billion.
Down in France, Bouygues Telecom, Orange and Iliad Group have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Altice France to acquire telecoms operator SFR for €20.35 billion ($23.4 billion), including debt. Under the terms, Bouygues would acquire the largest share of SFR’s assets, accounting for about 52% of the carved-out revenue, with Iliad taking 27% and Orange 21%. If approved by regulators, the acquisition would rank among the biggest European telecoms deals in recent years.
Vodafone Greece is considering a merger of its fiber network business with that of state-backed utility group PPC, which operates under the name PPC FiberGrid. The move would create one of the country’s largest fiber infrastructure providers, with the two networks currently passing more than 1.6 million homes between them.
In the UK, VodafoneThree, the enlarged entity formed as a result of the merger of Vodafone UK and Three last year, is understood to have lodged a bid for the consumer operations of UK USP TalkTalk. The latter company has been engaged in talks with prospective bidders for its various units since January 2026.
Americas
In the US, meanwhile, private investment firm Grain Management has announced plans to combine two of its portfolio companies – Arkansas-based Ritter Communications and Nebraska-based Great Plains Communications – to create an enlarged ISP called Rightfiber. Together, Rightfiber will serve more than 400 communities with a network spanning 20 states and connect 300,000 homes and businesses across its 28,000-mile regional fiber network.
Brazilian ISP Alares Internet has agreed to acquire smaller rival Oquei Telecom in a deal worth R$189 million ($36.7 million). A sum of R$75.6 million will be paid upon the closing of the transaction, while the balance will be paid in ten consecutive semi-annual instalments. Oquei is based in Jose Bonifacio, Sao Paulo, and provides fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband access, offering speeds of up to 800Mbps.
Also in Brazil, Telefonica Brasil (Vivo) has unveiled plans to merge with its wholly owned FiBrasil wholesale unit. The proposal will be discussed at the company’s Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting on 31 July 2026, with a view to the merger taking effect on 1 August. FiBrasil – which has a book value of R$812.6 million – will be dissolved post-merger.
Elsewhere in Latin America, Argentina’s National Competition Agency (Agencia Nacional de Competencia, ANG) has issued its ruling on the controversial 2025 merger between Telecom Argentina (Personal) and Telefonica Argentina (Movistar), recommending the divestment of six million mobile subscriptions, more than 200,000 fixed broadband customers, and a quantity of excess spectrum. The divestment of the aforementioned assets must be completed within 18 months, and an independent monitoring agent will oversee compliance with the various milestones.
Rest of the world
Over in Uzbekistan, the international privatization process for local mobile operator Mobiuz has been completed, with the State Assets Management Agency selecting an offer from a consortium of financial investors led by US-based McKim & Company in partnership with JVR Enterprises (JVR Capital Group). The consortium bid $351 million for the 100% stake in Mobiuz currently held by the Uzbekistan government and pledged to invest ‘up to $500 million’ in the development of telecommunications infrastructure.
Last but not least, as June drew to a close the UK’s BT Group and US-based Verizon Communications announced the signing of an agreement to combine their respective international enterprise operations into a 50:50 joint venture. The new JV will focus on serving multinational organizations and is expected to serve more than 3,000 customers across more than 180 countries, representing approximately $4 billion in combined annual revenue. Both BT and Verizon will hold equal voting rights and Verizon has agreed to pay BT an ‘equalization payment’ of $625 million. The new joint venture will be incorporated in the Bailiwick of Jersey and headquartered and tax resident in the UK.
That concludes this month’s pulse-pounding M&A Monthly round-up. Tune in next month for another essential selection!
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