Acquisition of the Marseille-based Jaguar Network by the Iliad Group

A strategic alliance for Free's parent company in France's most dynamic digital territory

Free's parent company acquires Marseille-based host and operator Jaguar Network. This French telecommunications group founded by Xavier Niel invests nearly € 100 million in the company with a 75% stake. This news confirms the attractiveness of the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis in the telecom sector. Iliad's strategy to position itself in the B-to-B market is based on complementarity with Jaguar Network, an expert in business services at the forefront of new technologies. As a major player in the structuring of the digital sector in the region, at the heart of the evolution of skills and the emergence of innovation, Jaguar Network is writing a new chapter in its history.

The Jaguar Network journey is a great case study for entrepreneurs and industry players. Originally a specialist in telecom networks and infrastructure, the company has been able to take all the technological turns becoming an expert in the cloud, connected objects, smart city and big data as a result of strategic operations and R&D investments.

Founded in 2001 by Kevin Polizzi and his twin brother, the company moved to l'Estaque in 2013, where it built its first data centres and then diversified its projects in France and abroad.

In the wake of open innovation and the French Tech movement being structured on the territory, Jaguar Network launched the ON[e]Life accelerator in 2016, the objective of which is to hybridize biotech and digital expertise.

At the end of 2018, the company inaugurated Quanta, its new headquarters and research and innovation centre, after an investment of € 16 million. An intelligent building of 5500 m2, hyper-connected (100 gigabits per second) and of high environmental quality, whose ambition is to accelerate the development of startups, particularly in the fields of health and artificial intelligence. A clear desire to maintain a technological edge, supported by an environment conducive to innovation and diversification.

The announcement of the acquisition of Jaguar Network by a major French group such as Iliad demonstrates that a strong development potential is possible in the region in the field of telecommunications.

Iliad's investment is made in an attractive area

Aix-Marseille-Provence offers all the advantages of a large digital metropolis.

With its high-level telecommunications networks and infrastructure, Marseille is a global hub that takes advantage of its strategic geographical position at the heart of data exchanges.
To date, 14 submarine cables have reached 43 countries and more than 4.5 billion people in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia at very high connection speeds. 4 other cables are being prepared.
The territory is also the 1st strong place after Paris for data storage, which attracts companies in particular in the fields of the Internet, digital and content industry. This is an asset for Iliad, which wishes to deploy its offer to companies through the acquisition of Jaguar Network.

Finally, Iliad is integrated into a region where there are many IT training courses and dynamic schools with graduates from Bac+2 to Doctorate, the presence of top schools and recognized actors in short and professionalizing courses. Kevin Polizzi is still an engineering student in Marseille and has embarked on the adventure of entrepreneurship. Kevin Polizzi will continue to head the management of Jaguar Network with 25% of the shareholding and aims to achieve a turnover of €100 million by 2020.