Orange Belgium has started negotiations with Nethys for buying 75 percent stake in VOO SA — based on an enterprise value of €1.8 billion.

VOO owns the cable network in the Walloon region and part of the Brussels region. VOO offers fixed and mobile telephony, broadband Internet and television services. Orange has over 3 million customers in Belgium.

The acquisition of VOO will enable Orange Belgium to operate a very high-speed network in Wallonia and part of Brussels, reinforcing the deployment of its convergent strategy.

Orange Belgium, which currently has very low leverage, would finance this transaction by increasing its debt, with the support of Orange SA.