The race to create France's second largest cable operator is said to be down to the last two bidders: a consortium of Cinven, a European buyout firm and Altice, a Luxembourg-based cable operator, vying against US buyout firm Providence Equity Partners.

The two are rivals in the €500m-€700m ($609m-$852m) auction of the cable operations of France Télécom and Vivendi Universal, according to Les Echos, the French business daily.