Billionaire Niel to Buy Orange Switzerland for $2.9 Billion

(Bloomberg) — French billionaire Xavier Niel’s private holding company agreed to buy mobile-phone carrier Orange Switzerland in a deal valued at 2.8 billion Swiss francs ($2.9 billion).

Niel’s NJJ Capital will buy the business from a group of funds advised by Apax Partners, according to an e-mailed statement. The transaction is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2015.

Apax has controlled Orange Switzerland since 2012, when the private-equity firm took over the business from what was previously called France Telecom SA. Orange Switzerland has 1.6 million customers, according to Apax’s website.

Phone companies in Europe are merging to reduce costs as they move to provide bundles of mobile, broadband and TV services to boost monthly bills and improve customer loyalty. Niel this year made an unsuccessful bid to acquire Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile US Inc. unit.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kenneth Wong in Berlin at [e-mail] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at [e-mail] Cornelius Rahn