Patrick Drahi Deserves Lots More Than $20 Billion for His French Crown Jewel

Patrick Drahi is used to driving a hard bargain. This time the telecoms tycoon is on the receiving end of a cheap offer — a lowball €17 billion ($20 billion) approach for the bulk of his French crown jewel, SFR. He can reasonably demand a good bump on that.

Many parties want to see a deal happen for the French mobile operator. The suitor here is a consortium comprising listed peers Bouygues SA and Orange SA along with billionaire Xavier Niel’s Iliad SA. They all compete in the cutthroat French telecoms market. Removing a rival and carving it up between themselves would ease pressure and bring big savings. It’s a startling achievement that they’ve even managed to come together.