Orange is looking to acquire the 50 percent stake in MásOrange that the French telco giant does not own.

As reported by Spanish publication El Confidencial this week, Orange has submitted its first tentative offer to Lorca Telecom for around €4 billion ($4.69bn), the company that owns the other half of the shares in MásOrange.

Lorca is owned by private equity funds Cinven, KKR, and Providence.

Orange also owns 50 percent of MásOrange, which was created last year when the French telco and MásMóvil finalized their merger in Spain, to create the country’s biggest mobile operator.

El Confidencial reports that the French government, which owns around 24 percent of Orange, is keen to buy back the 50 percent stake that it does not control in the entity.

As the merger was completed last year, the offer from Orange would take advantage of the first window of opportunity in which the two parties can decide whether to go public, sell their stakes to each other, or allow a third party to enter the company.

The publication notes that the most likely outcome is for Orange to acquire the 50 percent stake from the private equity funds, which acquired MásMóvil in 2000 for €3bn ($3.52bn).

Orange’s offer of €4bn ($4.69bn) plus debt would bring the total transaction value to more than €10bn ($11.73bn).

First announced back in 2022, the merger was estimated to be worth €18.6 billion ($21.8bn) and created a combined business of more than 37 million customers, including mobile and fixed-line subscribers.

Completion of the deal was delayed due to fears of competition in Spain, with the merger reducing the number of telcos from four to three.