Iliad Group all but sealed an acquisition of Play, announcing the Polish operator’s shareholders accepted its public tender offer and the board of directors had been reorganised the reflect the new ownership structure.

In a statement, Iliad said it will own 96.7 per cent of Play’s capital and voting rights, with the deal to be confirmed later this week.

Play shook up its board of directors to reflect Iliad’s control over the company, which now includes six directors put forward by the French group and three independent directors.

The directors were not revealed in the statement.

Completion of the deal was expected to be imminent after the European Commission (EC) cleared the transaction last month, finding no competition concerns.

Iliad first announced the €3.5 billion deal in September, in a move it said will expand its footprint in Poland and ease Play’s entry into the fixed-line market.

Jean-Marc Harion, chairman of Play’s board, said the deal marked a new chapter in the operator’s history and would help propel it to “become part of the sixth-biggest operator in Europe”.