Iliad announced Polish operator Play’s shareholders accepted its public tender offer, with the operator also reorganising its board of directors to reflect the incoming owners, further completing the acquisition.
In a statement, Iliad said it will own 96.7% of Play’s capital and voting rights. Play shuffled the board to include six directors put forward by Iliad and three independent directors. The directors were not detailed in the statement.
Thomas Reynaud, Iliad CEO said: “This acquisition represents an important step for Iliad, which now has 42 million subscribers in Europe across France, Italy and now Poland”.
Jean-Marc Harion, Play Management Board chairman added: “This new chapter in Play’s history comes on the back of 15 years of exceptional growth, which has made it Poland’s leading mobile operator with over 15 million subscribers. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to our 2,800 employees who have helped Play reach such a high level of excellence. We, in Play, are proud to become part of the 6th biggest operator in Europe.”
The settlement of the deal is expected to take place on November 25. Iliad announced intentions to acquire Play in September for €3.5 billion to expand into the Polish market.
The deal was given the green light to proceed by the European Commission after finding the French telecoms group’s entry into the eastern European country, would not stifle competition.
