French telecom operators announce they have signed a deal to acquire SFR from Altice, valued at about $23.5 billion (more than $23 billion depending on the reporting). The transaction follows months of negotiations over the future of the financially struggling SFR. Multiple sources describe the agreement as involving rival French operators who move to take control of SFR through a takeover deal. The reports characterize SFR as an “ailing” company and frame the acquisition as a resolution to a prolonged process seeking a buyer and deal terms. While the outlets provide the headline valuation and the fact that a signed agreement has been reached, they do not detail, in the provided excerpts, specific conditions such as regulatory approvals, timelines, financing structure, or the precise ownership breakdown among the acquiring operators. Overall, both accounts align on the parties involved—SFR and its seller Altice—and the approximate deal size, and both indicate the agreement is the result of sustained negotiations.