Iliad founder Xavier Niel offers $4.1 billion to buyout Millicom

Xavier Niel’s investment firm already has a 29% stake in Millicom

French businessman Xavier Niel’s Atlas Investissement is looking to buyout Latin America-focused operator group Millicom, offering to purchase the shares it doesn’t already own in a deal valuing the carrier at roughly $4.1 billion.

Millicom, headquartered in Luxembourg, provides fixed and mobile telecom services under the Tigo brand to more than 50 million subscribers in Latin America. Specifically, it serves customers in Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Paraguay. According to the carrier, it did $5.6 billion is sales last year.

Atlas already has a 29% stake in Millicom, and first revealed it was considering making a buyout offer in May. On Monday, it said it will offer $24 a share in cash. Millicom’s independent board committee, however, has rejected the price, stating it is too low due to expected future financial performance. Analysts, though, has pointed to the mixed performance of Millicom’s Latin American operations over the last few years as the result of a volatile economy and unreliable demand.

“Atlas wants to continue expanding the reach and capacity of Millicom’s networks and distribution capabilities to grow its customer base and better leverage its comprehensive telecom expertise,” Atlas said in a statement.

In 2021, Millicom partnered with for Parallel Wireless for the deployment of O-RAN-compliant Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) architecture in Colombia, with the aim of delivering 4G service coverage in 362 rural sites across the country.

Niel is the founder of French telecommunications provider Iliad Group.