Editing Orange Group (section)

=== Acquisition of Orange and privatisation ===
{{see also|Orange UK#History}}
<timeline>

#init

ImageSize  = width:1000 height:250
PlotArea   = left:95 right:40 bottom:20 top:20
TimeAxis   = orientation:horizontal format:mm/yyyy
AlignBars  = late

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:31/12/1989 till:01/06/2011

#colors
Colors =
 id:canvas value:gray(0.95)     # background for whole image
 id:bars   value:gray(0.95)     # background for bars
 id:grid1  value:rgb(0.4,0.6,0.4) # major grid
 id:grid2  value:rgb(0.80,0.80,1) # minor grid
 id:gray   value:gray(0.6)      # for colophon
 id:gray2  value:gray(0.5)      # for text

BackgroundColors = canvas:canvas bars:bars
ScaleMajor  = gridcolor:grid1 unit:year  increment:1 start:31/12/1989
ScaleMinor  = gridcolor:grid2 unit:month increment:3 start:31/12/1989

#Bar
BarData =
  bar:Nom  text:Name
  bar:Actionnaires  text:Shareholders
  bar:Faits  text:Key facts

#plot

PlotData=
  bar:Nom from:start till:01/04/1994 color:redorange text:"Microtel Communications Ltd" align:center align:center width:45
  bar:Nom from:01/04/1994 till:01/08/2000 color:orange text:"Orange plc" align:center align:center width:45
  bar:Nom from:01/08/2000 till:end color:redorange text:"Orange SA" align:center align:center width:45
  bar:Actionnaires from:start till:01/07/1991 color:redorange text:"Microtel" align:center width:45
  bar:Actionnaires from:01/07/1991 till:01/01/1996 color:orange text:"Hutchison Whampoa" align:center width:45
  bar:Actionnaires from:01/01/1996 till:01/09/1999 color:redorange text:"Hutchison Whampoa ~and ~British Aerospace" align:center width:45
  bar:Actionnaires from:01/09/1999 till:01/11/1999 color:orange text:"~Mannesmann AG" align:center width:45
  bar:Actionnaires from:01/11/1999 till:01/08/2000 color:redorange text:"Vodafone" align:center width:45
  bar:Actionnaires from:01/08/2000 till:end color:orange text:"France Télécom" align:center width:45
  bar:Faits from:13/02/2001 till:13/02/2001 color:black text:"French stock exchange introdution" width:50 fontsize:M 
  bar:Faits from:01/06/2001 till:01/06/2001 color:black text:"~ ~Itinéris, Ola and ~Mobicarte become Orange" width:50 fontsize:M
  bar:Faits from:01/06/2006 till:01/06/2006 color:black text:"Wanadoo becomes Orange" width:50 fontsize:M 
  bar:Faits from:21/11/2003 till:21/11/2003 color:black text:"~Exits Paris Stock Exchange" width:50 fontsize:M 
  bar:Faits from:01/11/2008 till:01/11/2008 color:black text:"~Orange Cinéma Séries ~and Orange Sport ~launch" width:50 fontsize:M

</timeline>

In July 1991, Hutchison Telecom, a UK subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based conglomerate [[Hutchison Whampoa]], acquired a controlling stake in Microtel Communications Ltd, which by then had acquired a licence to develop a mobile network in the United Kingdom.<ref name=OBS-H-04/><ref name=OBS-H-35/><ref name="Hutchinson actionnaire majoritaire microtel"/> Hutchison renamed Microtel to Orange Personal Communications Services Ltd, and on 28 April 1994 the Orange brand was launched in the UK mobile phone market. A holding company structure was adopted in 1995 with the establishment of Orange plc. In April 1996, Orange went public and floated on the London Stock Exchange and [[NASDAQ]],<ref name=OBS-H-38/> majority-owned by Hutchison (48.22%),<ref name=OBS-H-36/><ref name=OBS-H-37/> followed by BAe (21.1%).<ref name=OBS-H-38/> In June 1996, it became the youngest company to enter the [[FTSE 100 Index|FTSE 100]], valued at £2.4 billion.

In October 1999, the German conglomerate Mannesmann AG acquired Orange for a price equivalent to €7,900 per customer, i.e. US$33&nbsp;billion.<ref name=OBS-H-10/><ref name=OBS-H-17/><ref name="Mannesman rachete Orange pour 33 milliards de dollars"/> Mannesmann's acquisition of Orange triggered Vodafone to make a [[takeover|hostile takeover]] bid for Mannesmann. Shortly thereafter, in February 2000, Vodafone acquired Mannesmann for US$183&nbsp;billion, and decided to divest Orange because [[Regulation (European Union)|EU regulations]] would not allow it to hold two mobile licences.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/630293.stm| title=Vodafone seals Mannesmann merger| publisher =BBC| date = 11 February 2000| access-date =26 December 2008}}</ref>

In August 2000, France Télécom bought Orange plc from Vodafone for a total estimated cost of €39.7&nbsp;billion.<ref name=OBS-H-20/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/769293.stm|title=France Telecom clinches Orange deal|publisher=BBC|date=30 May 2000|access-date=9 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://lexpansion.lexpress.fr/entreprise/france-telecom-boucle-le-rachat-d-orange_85805.html|title=TELECOMS: France Télécom boucle le rachat d'Orange - LExpansion.com|publisher=Lexpansion.lexpress.fr|date=22 August 2000|access-date=29 April 2013|archive-date=19 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619111316/http://lexpansion.lexpress.fr/entreprises/|url-status=dead}}</ref> At the time, France Télécom also bought stakes in several other international firms (GlobalOne, [[Orange Business Services|Equant]], Internet Telecom, [[Freeserve]], EresMas, [[NTL Incorporated|NTL]] and Mobilcom), of which some have since been sold back. Through this process, France Télécom became the fourth-biggest global operator. The mobile telephone operations of Orange plc were merged with the majority of the mobile operations of France Télécom, forming the new group Orange S.A.

On 13 February 2001, Orange S.A. was listed on the [[Euronext Paris]] stock exchange with an [[initial public offering]] of €95 per share, with a secondary listing in London.<ref name="France 3 entrée en bourse Orange"/> In May 2001, Orange S.A. was listed on the [[CAC 40]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.silicon.fr/opa-sur-orange-et-wanadoo-les-petits-porteurs-sont-en-colere-4380.html|title=OPA sur Orange et Wanadoo: les petits porteurs sont en colère|publisher=Silicon.fr|date=24 February 2004|access-date=29 April 2013|archive-date=21 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921040140/https://www.silicon.fr/opa-sur-orange-et-wanadoo-les-petits-porteurs-sont-en-colere-4380.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> the benchmark stock market index of the top 40 French companies in terms of [[market capitalisation]].<ref name="Notices Euronext entrée Orange"/>

In June 2001, the France Telecom Mobile brands [[Itinéris]], [[OLA (Mobile phone)|OLA]], and [[Mobicarte]] were replaced by the Orange brand. On 21 November 2003, France Telecom withdrew the 13.7% of Orange's shares traded on the [[Euronext Paris|Paris stock exchange]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 December 2003 |title=Orange: l'ADAM gagne un sursis jusqu'à l'examen de ses recours |url=https://www.boursier.com/actions/actualites/news/orange-l-adam-gagne-un-sursis-jusqu-a-l-examen-de-ses-recours-80195.html |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=Boursier.com |language=fr}}</ref>

On 2 October 2002, the CEO, [[Thierry Breton]] was given the task of turning the company around after the company became crippled by debt following the drop of the company's stock price. On 30 September 2002, the company's stock price was €6.94, down from €219 on 2 March 2000. France Télécom was the second most indebted company worldwide in terms of short-term liabilities. The company obtained €15&nbsp;billion of debt adjustment that needed to be borne by banks and investors, another €15&nbsp;billion as a capital increase from the French State since it was still the majority shareholder, and an additional 15bn in cash from internal savings. On 25 February 2005, Thierry Breton was appointed [[Minister of the Economy, Industry and Employment (France)|Minister of Finance and Industry]] and [[Didier Lombard]], who had been head of the firm's new technologies division, replaced him as CEO.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aWQM6cGZu.Uw&refer=europe|title=France Telecom Names Lombard Chief Executive, Replacing Breton|last=Ruitenberg|first=Rudy|date=27 February 2005|publisher=Bloomberg|access-date=6 April 2009}}</ref>