Patrick Darhy’s communications company SFR is being acquired for €20.4 billion

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Orange SA, Bouygues Telecom and the Free-iliad group have jointly signed a memorandum of understanding for an acquisition agreement with billionaire Patrick Darhy’s communications company Altice France, Orange and Bouygues said in separate statements. The transaction may be completed by the second half of 2027, after receiving the necessary approvals.

The deal is expected to end a long-running saga for SFR, after Altis rejected a previous acquisition offer by the consortium. Derhi is seeking to raise cash to reduce leverage at his communications group, after years of debt-fueled acquisitions.

Darhi is one of the most powerful people in the media industry in Israel. He owns the Hot media group, the i24NEWS network of news channels and the Shabbat Square and Serog news websites, which are intended for the ultra-orthodox and religious-nationalist public. Outside of Israel, he owns other businesses as mentioned, through the international communications company Altice, and in 2019 he purchased the Sotheby’s auction house. Derhi recently tried to purchase Network 13, but in the end the high-text group, led by Assaf Rappaport, defeated him in the race for the channel.

His various businesses around the world bring in about 30 billion dollars a year, employ 80 thousand people and are active in 50 different countries. Darhi is also currently ranked 428th on Forbes’ list of the world’s richest people, with a net worth estimated at $8.3 billion. This is despite the fact that about a decade ago, in June 2015, Forbes estimated his worth at 26.5 billion dollars, which reflects a significant decrease. Until 2016 he was even the richest in Israel.

According to several publications in the “Financial Times” since last December, his moves today are restructuring the debt in a way that leaves no choice to the creditors but to agree to a haircut. The articles described how he transferred assets that generate profits in it out of the reach of creditors, as in the cases of Altis Luxembourg and Altis International. Thus, the debtors are faced with a debt of billions of euros and against very poor guarantees. Also, he is described as someone who cuts costs in a way that is almost unparalleled in the companies he has joined.