Bouygues has upped the cash portion of its bid for a controlling stake in SFR to €11.3 billion from €10.5 billion previously, its latest move to beat rival Altice.

The improved offer topped the €11 billion in cash bid by Altice until the latter improved its own offer by €850 million earlier today, according to sources contacted by Reuters.

Bouygues’ new offer would also reduce the stake held by Vivendi – SFR’s owner – in the combined entity from 46 per cent to 43 per cent. This is still a bigger share than the 32 per cent stake on offer from Altice.

In addition, Bouygues is prepared for Vivendi to sell part of its 43 per cent stake to financial investors before the entity is floated on the stock exchange via an IPO, another sweetening of the deal.

Vivendi’s right to sell 15 per cent at IPO – part of the original offer – remains unchanged, said Bouygues.

An improved offer follows Bouygues’s wooing of the French government earlier in the week, with offers of support for domestic suppliers, as well as job guarantees and infrastructure investment.