Niel Cements Control Over Iliad With $1.5 Billion Buyback

  • Stock rises 20%, most since January 2004, on news of offering
  • Billionaire’s ownership could rise to as much as 72%
Xavier NielPhotographer: Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg
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Billionaire Xavier Niel will finance a 1.4 billion-euro ($1.5 billion) share buybackBloomberg Terminal at Iliad SA, bolstering his control over the French phone carrier he founded. The shares rose as much as 20%, the most since Iliad’s 2004 stock-market debut.