AMSTERDAM, 14/02/07 - France Telecom has put its Orange Nederland subsidiary up for sale. The telecom company has retained investment bank Lazard to find buyers for the unit, Het Financieele Dagblad reported yesterday.

The price-tag is not known, but analysts estimate its value at 800-850 million euros. This is about 10 times the earnings (ebitda) of the Dutch arm, said the newspaper.

Orange Nederland claims over 600,000 Internet subscribers and 1.9 million mobile clients. This makes it the Netherlands' smallest mobile telephony provider, after KPN, Vodafone and T-Mobile.

An Orange spokesman declined to confirm the report. "It is our custom never to make specific comments on the basis of rumours and speculation. Even if this were the case, we would only come out with it if an agreement was signed."

KPN will not bid for Orange Nederland, an insider predicted. "Competition authorities will not allow a new acquisition by KPN. And Vodafone is primarily occupied with winding down activities in smaller countries." T-Mobile of Germany could however be interested, the source told Het Financieele Dagblad.

Last year, France Telecom merged Wanadoo's internet activities with its mobile telephony subsidiary Orange. But as the smallest of the Dutch mobile telephony providers, Orange is having difficulty keeping its head above water.