Iliad SA
French telecommunications company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Iliad SA, stylized as iliad, is a French telecommunications company. It is based in Paris and its operations comprise fixed and mobile telephony services, prepaid phone cards and Internet access providing and hosting services.
 | |
| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| ISIN | FR0004035913  |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Founder | Xavier Niel |
| Headquarters | , France |
Area served | |
Key people |
|
| Products | Telephony |
| Revenue |  €9.24 billion (2023) |
 €318 million (2023) | |
| Owner | Xavier Niel |
Number of employees | 15100 (2021) |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | www |
The company was founded by Xavier Niel in 1990.[1]
Iliad is the 5th largest European telecommunications group with 50 million subscribers through its subsidiaries in France, Italy, and Poland.[2]
History
Free Mobile, a subsidiary of Iliad, was launched in 2012. As of December 2013, it was France's fourth largest mobile operator, having gained a 12% share of the market.[3]
On August 1, 2014, Iliad publicly announced a bid to acquire a 56% stake in the United States wireless carrier T-Mobile for US$16 billion. The bid came amidst reports that competing carrier Sprint Corporation, owned by Japanese firm Softbank, was planning its own US$24 billion merger.[4][5][6] The bid was dropped in October 2014.[7]
As of the end of 2012, the company was active in over 35 countries.
In 2019, Iliad made 5.33 billion revenue.[8]
Iliad Italia, an Italian subsidiary of Iliad, was launched in Milan, Lombardy on May 29, 2018.[9][10]
In May 2019, Iliad and Salt sold a majority of their telecommunications towers in France, Italy, and Switzerland to Cellnex Telecom for €2.7 billion — €2 billion for Iliad (covering 70% of its towers) and €700 million for Salt (90% of its towers).[11] The deal included approximately 5,700 towers in France and 2,200 in Italy.[12]
In September 2020, Iliad acquired Play, the largest mobile operator in Poland, for US$4.2 billion.[13]
In July 2021, Xavier Niel, founder of Iliad, announced the acquisition of the remaining 29% of the company he did not already own, in a US$3.7 billion deal.[14]
In September 2021, Iliad acquired UPC Poland, a subsidiary of Liberty Global, for €1.5 billion.[15]
Subsidiaries
- Free (France)
- Free Mobile (France)
- Iliad Italia (Italy)
- Play (Poland) and its subsidiaries, including Virgin Mobile and UPC Poland
- Eir (Ireland)
- Scaleway (France)
- Tele2 (Sweden)
- Millicom (Luxembourg)
