Iliad’s Niel Harnesses Billionaire Heft to Muscle Into Deals

Xavier Niel, the founder of French mobile and broadband provider Iliad SA, has made a second career backing startups with uncertain prospects. Now he’s ready to apply those skills to Europe’s beleaguered phone companies.

As his net worth reaches $8.1 billion, Niel is assessing deals for telecommunications operators in the region, people familiar with his thinking said. Among targets he’s recently examined for Iliad to join forces with, or to take a stake in himself: SFR and Bouygues Telecom, France’s second- and third-biggest wireless carriers, and Mobistar, the Belgian operator controlled by Orange SA, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter.