By Sam Schechner
BARCELONA--Orange SA (ORAN) is within days of announcing a deal
worth "well over" 1 billion euros ($1.35 billion) to sell its
Dominican Republic unit, the company's chief executive said Friday,
plowing cash into the former French telecommunications monopoly
ahead of an expected wave of consolidation in the sector.
"The probability that we'll make a Dominican Republic
announcement in coming days is very high," said Stephane Richard,
speaking on the sidelines of an investor conference in Barcelona.
"It's for a value well above what had been expected, well above 1
billion euros," he added.
The Paris-based telecoms company put the unit up for aucion this
summer in an effort to reduce debt and increase its financial
flexibility to participate in an expected wave of consolidation in
Europe - and had previously said it expected to seal a deal by the
end of the year.
Orange had set a mid-November deadline for bids for the company,
people familiar with the matter said last month. Among those who
had expressed preliminary interest were the U.K.'s Cable &
Wireless Communications, Jamaica's Digicel, and Dominican
conglomerate Grupo Leon Jimenes, those people said.
Mr. Richard declined to comment on the buyer or the structure of
the deal.
The likely deal comes as Mr. Richard is preparing Orange to take
part in consolidation among European telecoms companies. The
company could be a buyer of mobile operators in Spain or Poland, or
fixed-line operators in Belgium or Romania, Mr. Richard said during
the conference on Friday.
Some deals may be less likely, however. Mr. Richard said Friday
that a long-theorized merger with Deutsche Telekom is "absolutely
unrealistic" for the time being. He also said that while a partial
initial public offering of EE - Orange's U.K. joint venture with
Deutsche Telekom - remains possible, he added that the companies
could well decide to hang onto the two assets.
"All options are open," Mr. Richard said.
Orange Dominicana is the French company's only major asset in
Latin America. In the third quarter, the unit had 3.3 million
mobile subscribers, up 6.3% from a year earlier, according to
company figures. It had 2012 revenue of EUR451 million, or 1% of
Orange's overall sales, according to the company's annual
report.
-Write to Sam Schechner at Sam.Schechner at
Sam.Schechner@wsj.com