Naming of Stade Vélodrome: Orange in advanced discussions with operating company Arema

Orange, the British telecommunications company, is in advanced discussions for the naming rights of the Stade Vélodrome with Arema, a subsidiary of Bouygues that is tasked with the renovation and operation of the Marseille stadium (for 35 years). News Tank confirmed this with Bruno Botella, Arema president, on 02/07/2014.

"We have been in negotiation with Orange for years," said Bruno Botella, adding that he hoped for "a rapid resolution". "All of Arema's shareholders, including Bouygues, are in favour of these negotiations and would be happy to see them succeed," he was quoted as saying on the website of French sports newspaper L'Equipe on 02/07/2014. Arema is also in contact, he said, with other "foreign prospects".

Olympique de Marseille (Ligue 1), Stade Vélodrome's resident club, will face Montpellier for their first match in the renovated stadium (capacity 67,500) on the second matchday of Ligue 1 on 16/08/2014.

Orange also announced that it retracted its bid to purchase Bouygues Telecom on 02/07/2014. Orange, which had initiated negotiations in April 2014, said that the…