Bouygues has offered to buy a controlling stake in SFR, a move that would create France’s largest mobile operator.

Earlier Vivendi confirmed it had received two offers for SFR – from cable operator Altice as well as Bouygues.

Bouygues is offering €10.5 billion in cash to Vivendi for a controlling stake plus 46 per cent of the merged entity which it would float on the stock market as soon as possible.

Meanwhile Altice, the parent of French cable operator Numericable, is offering €11 billion in cash, plus a 32 per cent stake in the merged entity.

Bouygues’s bid would attract more regulatory scrutiny since, if successful, it would reduce the number of mobile operators in France from four to three. However, one of the three operators is relative newcomer Free.

A Bouygues-SFR combination would have a 49 per cent share of total connections in France (GSMA Intelligence, Q4 2013 figures), leapfrogging rival Orange which has a 39 per cent share. Free has a 12 per cent market share.

Bouygues CFO Philippe Marien said no talks had taken place with the country’s antitrust regulators. However, he added that the operator was willing to take steps to stimulate competition, such as further supporting MVNOs.

Numericable carries nothing like the regulatory baggage of Bouygues because it is not a mobile operator in France.

However, parent Altice is present in the mobile market elsewhere.

Absent from the list of bidders is Vodafone, which was previously a shareholder in SFR.  Although its name has not been mentioned as a potential bidder, France is the only one of the top five European mobile markets where Vodafone is not an operator.

Meanwhile Vivendi said its supervisory board “will consider all options available regarding the future of its subsidiary and the group”, a reference to the option of a demerger which at times has been the French company’s favoured option, ahead of a trade sale.