What’s up with… Mexican M&A, Orange, Telecom Italia

• Grupo Televisa in line to acquire AT&T México
• Orange’s plan to own MásOrange outright comes under scrutiny
• Poste Italiane ups its stake in Telecom Italia

In today’s industry news roundup: AT&T México in line to be acquired by MVNO operator; the EC wants to take a closer look at Orange’s planned M&A in Spain; Poste Italiane snaps up Vivendi’s final stake in Telecom Italia; and more!

Mexican multimedia conglomerate Grupo Televisa is reportedly in talks to acquire AT&T México from the US telco giant and merge the operation with Televisa’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Izzi, which offers its services over the AT&T México network. According to El Heraldo de México, Izzi “is in the final stretch to acquire AT&T México”, reports Merca2.0. In 2024, Grupo Televisa acquired Sky Mexico from AT&T, so the two companies have M&A history. The purchase price of AT&T México is expected to be between $3bn and $4bn. If Grupo Televisa were successful, it would have about 24 million mobile customers for a market share of about 17%, but that would still leave it way behind the clear market leader, América Móvil’s Telcel, which dominates the Mexican mobile market with a market share of more than 60%. The other main mobile operator in Mexico is Movistar, which Telefónica is currently trying to sell. 

Orange’s plan to acquire the 50% of MásOrange that is currently held by private equity consortium Lorca, and so take 100% ownership of the Spanish telco, is to be reviewed by the European Commission’s competition authorities, a move that will delay the takeover, reports El Confidencial. Orange had hoped the M&A deal could be completed during the first half of 2026. In early November, the French telco announced plans to splash out €4.25bn on the 50% of MásOrange it doesn’t already own, noting the deal would “accelerate” its Lead the Future strategic plan, and further strengthen its position in Spain, the group’s second-largest market in Europe. “With full ownership, Orange confirms its long-term industrial commitment in Spain, and its confidence in MásOrange and its management to create value for all stakeholders,” the operator said.   

Italy’s national postal service, Poste Italiane, has increased its stake of Telecom Italia (TIM)’s ordinary shares to 27.32% by acquiring a 2.51% stake from Vivendi. Poste Italiane paid €187m for the stake, a move that leaves the French media giant, which  only a few years ago was Telecom Italia’s single largest shareholder, without any remaining holding in the Italian national operator. Vivendi was a vocal opponent of Telecom Italia’s decision to sell its NetCo fixed-line network assets at what Vivendi believed was far too low a price. “With this transaction, Poste Italiane strengthens its strategic investment in TIM, confirming its objective of acting as a long-term industrial shareholder through the realisation of synergies and the creation of value for all stakeholders,” noted Poste Italiane in this announcement (in Italian). Poste Italiane, which, among other things, is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that offers its services over the Telecom Italia mobile network, first became a major shareholder in the Italian telco in February 2025. 

Following the completion of Vodafone Group’s recent share buyback programme, e&’s stake in the international telco has now reached 16.61%, it noted in this regulatory filing, despite e&’s share count remaining the same as before at 3,944.7 million. e& first invested in Vodafone Group in the first half of 2022, when it acquired a 9.8% stake. 

– The staff, TelecomTV