Sofrecom, helped us to set up an organizational model to manage OWF's relations with Orange Concessions, its new operator partner. Thanks to a tight and rigourous co-leading of several OWF projects, Sofrecom has helped to structure the exchanges by involving the many stakeholders.
As institutional investors become more and more interested in infrastructure, telecom operators are finding new growth drivers in the spin-off and co-financing of their fiber and mobile infrastructures. By supporting the set-up and the launch in November 2021 of Orange Concessions, the new subsidiary carrying Orange's RIP operations, Sofrecom has demonstrated its expertise in the global management of activities "carve-outs" and entity operationalization.
The challenge in a CARVE-OUT is to be on time : The challenge in a CARVE-OUT is to be on time: creating a successful, attractive and profitable subsidiary in a very tight timeline and depending on external authorizations (financial authorities, CSE, etc.). However, " carve-out " is disruptive: it will affect all of the subsidiary's employees, customers and activities. It raises numerous challenges in every area of the organization: legal, financial, HR, real estate, logistics, IT, sales, communications, ...
An involvement from the beginning of the project in a strictly confidential mode
As part of the Orange Concessions project, Sofrecom was involved in the investor file preparation and in the DATA room, a virtual place where the pre-selected investors can have access to the relevant documents in order to draw up their business plan and their investments. In this pre-selection stage, where confidentiality is a major issue, Sofrecom as part of the Orange group, was a real advantage for the company.
At about the same time, Sofrecom took part in the "Transition Issues" phase to identify the potential activities to be carried out. It was about defining which of those functions had to be transferred to the subsidiary, which ones had to be kept and which ones had to be duplicated. It also included the description of the processes and tools to be put in place to ensure the smooth running of operations between the subsidiary and its corporate parent, in a context where Orange would be both the corporate parent, the supplier and the customer of Orange Concessions. In this situation, it was necessary to draw up contracts for these three types of relationships.
Growing support for the operational teams in the pre-launch stage to secure business continuity
Following the investor's selection, Sofrecom mobilized a team of multidisciplinary consultants to support the Orange Concessions project team which had to manage at the same time the deployment of the RIP, the installation of the fiber access points and the marketing, while preparing the launch of the new subsidiary.
In this pre-operational period, Sofrecom defined and organized the implementation of the vital functions of the future subsidiary in order to meet the required agility and managing needs of an SME of 100 people. It was about :
- to implement new tools (CRM, expense management tools, HRIS)
- to review and organize the signing of legal agreements.
- to prepare and organize the accommodation and/or relocation of the employees of the 24 RIPs,
- to define, with the HR department, an operating mode that allows the confidentiality issues to be respected during the pre-operational phase of a project with a high strategic stakes
- to work on the Orange Concessions' raison d'être and to formalize the Communication Guidelines for both local authorities and operators,
- to train teams in their new work tools and processes,
- and finally to support the subsidiary in the post-launch stage and make sure that all works.
Using agile tools to manage cultural change, create team spirit and keep up the pace when facing unexpected events
Switching from a group' s environment in which the employees have important resources, to a start-up mode organization with empowered, multifunctional employees, able to take quick decisions was a real cultural revolution, a challenge for the decision-makers at a time when France was suddenly in its first confinement!
To meet this challenge, Sofrecom has driven the adoption of a new governance mode with an Agile coach's support. Then the new collaborative working ways, innovative tools, and agile rituals of short and frequent meetings in order to identify and address specific topics, allowed to gradually build a more flexible culture of change that was adopted by the whole team at the launching day..
Moreover, agility brings a greater team spirit to different project teams that used to move independently and with different timelines. It gathered the entire team around a common story.
Capitalizing on success drivers.
To provide value to its customers in other Orange Group CARVE-OUT operations, Sofrecom capitalizes on several key drivers:
- An early involvement in the process : A deep knowledge of investment and business carve-out issues, as defined in the transition stage, is essential to provide efficient and effective support until the closing.
- Strong and long-term consulting services to ensure continuity while the project moves from a financial to an operational perspective, and while the players must pursue their business ambitions.
- Using agile practices to mobilize team members around a common ambition, to manage change, and to nurture a new corporate culture.
