(Bloomberg) -- Xavier Niel said Vodafone Group Plc “has a problem” in the crowded Italian telecom market, making the comment while his firm’s bid for Vodafone’s local operations is still pending.

Niel’s Iliad SA in December offered to merge with Vodafone Italy, which it valued at €10.45 billion ($11.4 billion). He owns about 2.5% stake in Vodafone, according to a spokesperson for Niel.

“We are a new entrant in Italy, we have been very aggressive,” the French billionaire said on Monday at a meeting with the Paris press association for business journalists. “This market could consolidate, this doesn’t seem unreasonable.”

A spokesperson for Vodafone declined to comment. 

Vodafone said after Iliad announced the bid that it’s exploring options with several parties to either merge or sell its Italian business, and there’s no certainty it will reach a deal. Fastweb, which is owned by Swisscom AG, is among suitors that have been studying a potential combination Vodafone’s Italian unit, Bloomberg reported in November. 

Iliad entered Italy in 2018 as a no-frills mobile operator, sparking a price war and making it one of the most competitive telecommunications markets in Europe. 

Iliad is also present in France and Poland, with Niel’s holding company NJJ making other telecom investments around the world.  

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Niel said he couldn’t comment on a bid for the Portuguese operations of Patrick Drahi’s Altice telecommunications empire, which Bloomberg reported in December, as he has signed non-disclosure agreements.  

“Drahi has assets for sale, and we are buyers in the telecom market, so as soon as an asset is for sale we are ready to make bids,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that we are able in the end to pass with these bids.”

--With assistance from Jillian Deutsch.

(Niel’s spokesperson corrects his stake in Vodafone in the deck headline, second paragraph.)

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