PARIS (Reuters) -French billionaire Xavier Niel has boosted his stake in Luxembourg-based telecoms firm Millicom International Cellular S.A. to 19.6%, his investment vehicle Atlas Investissement said in a statement on Tuesday.
The move makes Niel, the founder and owner of French telecoms maverick Iliad, Millicom's No 1 shareholder, according to Refinitiv data.
Atlas Investissement, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Niel's holding NJJ, did not say how much it spent acquiring the stake.
It is worth about $700 million, based on Millicom's total market capitalization of $3.54 billion as of Tuesday.
Niel's investment vehicle disclosed last November it had a 7% stake in Millicom, saying it had identified the firm as an "attractive investment opportunity".
Atlas said at the time it supported Millicom's strategy and management team. The investment vehicle didn't elaborate further on its larger stake on Tuesday.
Millicom provides fixed and mobile telecommunications services in Latin America, through its TIGO brand.
At end 2022, the Nasdaq-listed group said it employed about 20,000 people.
Millicom's full-year 2022 sales totalled $5.62 billion, up 3.3% from a year earlier on an underlying basis, with an operating profit of $915 million, it said last week.