Orange, MásMóvil seal merger to form Spain’s largest mobile operator

Orange and MASMOVIL announced the creation of a new joint venture, finalizing the agreement to combine their activities in Spain[1]. The shareholders of Orange and MASMOVIL each hold 50% of the joint venture and the same governance rights.

Bringing together more than 37 million fixed and mobile broadband lines, the new entity positions itself as a leading player in the Spanish telecommunications market in terms of customer volume. Its ambition is to become a leader in terms of talent, user experience, innovation, social and environmental impact and fiber and mobile coverage. From this project comes a sustainable player, financially capable of continuing its investments in the next generation of networks that will benefit the market, general consumers and businesses in Spain.

According to new estimates, the joint venture is expected to generate more than €490 million in synergies per year from the fourth year after closing. Based on preliminary closing accounts, respective revenues would reach approximately €4.4 billion for Orange and €1.65 billion for MASMOVIL shareholders.

The companies (Orange Spain and MASMOVIL) will operate as a single entity: their accounts will be consolidated into a new registered legal entity (the joint venture). As planned, the new company is operational today.

Jean-François Fallacher, Managing Director of Orange France, has been appointed non-executive Chairman of the new company. Having held the position of General Manager of Orange Spain between September 2020 and April 2023, he has extensive experience in the Spanish market.

The Board of Directors of the joint venture also confirmed the appointment as Managing Director of Meinrad Spenger, Managing Director of MASMOVIL since 2006, and that of Alberto Castañeda as Secretary of the Board. Ludovic Pech and Germán López have been respectively appointed to the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer.

“Serving more than 30 million customers in Spain is both an immense honor and a heavy responsibility. We will do everything possible to keep them the happiest customers nationwide. With our joint venture, the Spanish telecommunications market now welcomes a powerful player capable of innovating and investing to serve its enterprise and consumer segment customers as a trusted partner,” said Meinrad Spenger, Managing Director of the joint venture.

Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange, said:“This announcement is a first step in the deployment of Orange’s long-term strategy in Europe. By positioning itself as a stronger and more sustainable player, this new joint venture will drive innovation and investment in digital and broadband services in Spain. This is a very big step forward for our vision of a strong and prosperous telecommunications sector in Europe.

CT Bureau