Altice is set to appeal the French stock market regulator’s decision to block a planned buyout of SFR minority shareholders, having separately bought more of the integrated operator’s shares.

According to Reuters, Altice told the watchdog – AMF – of its plan on Friday. Altice was looking to tidy-up its SFR holding in order to simplify its ownership structure as it is integrated into Altice’s global telecoms portfolio, before the move was banjaxed.

AMF blocked the Altice offer because minority shareholders were not given enough information with which to judge it, Reuters said. Other critics questioned the value placed on SFR, and the independence of board members involved it the proposed transaction.

At the time, Michel Combes, CEO, described AMF’s decision as “totally incomprehensible”.

Altice also announced off-market transactions which will see it acquiring an additional 5.21 per cent of outstanding SFR shares, increasing its direct ownership to 82.9 per cent.

The ratio used for this deal, which sees 8 new Altice shares issued for 5 SFR shares, is the same as that proposed in the AMF-blocked scheme.