Orange brand continues international growth

By Amelia Gundersen-Herman

French telecoms conglomerate, Orange SA, formerly France Télécom SA, is in the process of acquiring Moroccan mobile network operatorMédiTélécom (Méditel). Following the deal the company will be rebranded to Orange.

Orange currently owns 40% of the Méditel company, but according to a 2012 agreement the company’s fellow shareholders, state-controlled financial institution Caisse de dépôt et de gestion (CDG) and Moroccan investment firm FinanceCom, must each transfer Orange 4.5% of their 30% share leaving Orange with a 49% share in the business. The drawn out process is apparently due in part to France and Morocco’s volatile relationship.

Orange Group’s CEO, Stéphane Richard has also said that though the ‘situation [in Tunisia] is not about to be settled’, the group does eventually plan to take over Orange Tunisia; where it currently holds a 49% stake. The French telecoms company also owns a stake in Iraqi MNO Korek Telecom but claims that the group has no plans to increase involvement or exposure in that particular region.

At the end of last year Orange announced plans to acquire Spanish broadband provider Jazztel Plc, the French carrier’s biggest takeover attempt in almost a decade indicates that the company plans to remain a main player.

France Télécom rebranded as Orange in July 2013, the Orange brand was launched in the UK 19 years prior. Orange was created out of the merger between two mobile licensees, one owned by BAE and the other by Hutchison Whampoa before launching services. The company launched services in April 1994, using the slogan, “The future’s bright, the future’s Orange.”