France's Orange Raises Hundreds of Millions of Euros by Selling Data Center Equity to Accelerate AI Investment

en.Wedoany.com Reported - French telecom operator Orange plans to raise hundreds of millions of euros by selling equity in some of its data centers in France to investors, in order to accelerate its investment layout in the field of artificial intelligence.

Orange initiated this capital opening process at the end of 2024, and the selection of investors has now entered its final stage. Three funds focused on infrastructure remain on the shortlist: Vauban Infrastructure Partners, Macquarie, and Morrison. Among them, New Zealand-based fund Morrison is currently in a leading position, and the deal could be completed within weeks. The selected investor will acquire minority stakes in four of Orange's data centers in France, with shareholdings ranging from 40% to 49%. This sale is expected to generate hundreds of millions of euros in revenue for Orange, with the funds primarily allocated to its artificial intelligence strategy, which is a core part of the plan "Trust the Future" announced earlier this year.

This move follows a trend among other operators in the telecom industry. In 2023, SFR sold a 70% stake in its data center subsidiary UltraEdge to fund Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners. That same year, Free's parent company Iliad also opened up a 49% stake in its subsidiary OpCore to fund growth and reduce debt. Orange commissioned investment bank Evercore at the end of 2024 to study this capital opening initiative. Orange has not commented on this news.