French billionaire Xavier Niel has sold the majority of his six percent stake in Belgian telco Proximus.

Niel, who is the founder of French telecoms company Iliad, has reduced his holding in the company to less than one percent.

His stake sale was confirmed in a filing earlier this week.

Niel acquired the stake in Proximus back in November 2023 via his holding company Carraun.

Proximus’ largest shareholder is the Belgian government, which holds a 53.51 percent stake. Niel was keen to launch a takeover of the company and increase his control of the telco. However, the Belgian government rebuffed his offer.

Niel took to social media platform X late last year to tell one user that he was ready to expand his stake in Proximus, noting that the government blocked his efforts.

“Me, I’m ready to go; it’s your government that doesn’t want to,” said Niel in response to an X user who asked Niel to launch a Belgian telco, while bemoaning prices in the country.

Despite the setback for Niel in Belgium, he has stakes in several other telecom companies, including ownership of Monaco-based Monaco Telecom, a 2.5 percent stake in Vodafone, while his investment vehicle NJJ owns a 70 percent stake in Irish telco Eir.

Most recently, NJJ Holding, along with Millicom International Cellular, snapped up Telefónica’s Chilean unit for $1.2bn.