Stock market regulator the AMF (Autorite des Marches Financiers) has ruled against Altice’s buy-out offer for its subsidiary SFR Group, which was announced in early September. The ruling states that the AMF found the transaction non-compliant, although the motivations behind the decision have not yet been published. In a statement, Altice acknowledged the ruling, stating that it reserves the right to file an appeal against the decision with the Paris Court of Appeal.
On 5 September, Altice had proposed buying out the remaining 22.25 percent of SFR it does not yet own, offering minority shareholders eight new Altice class A shares for each five SFR shares. Later in September, press reports emerged of opposition from minority shareholders to the transaction, as the terms offered by Altice were not favourable enough. According to Les Echos, some of these shareholders had called for the AMF to block the buyout offer. Among them, CIMA (Charity & Investment Merger Arbitrage) contested, among other things, the independence of two SFR board members recommending the offer.
