Iliad founder Niel transfers most of his shares to holding firm

PARIS (Reuters) - French telecoms entrepreneur Xavier Niel, the founder of Iliad <ILD.PA>, has transferred almost all of his stake in the French telecom group to a holding company he controls called HoldCo.

Niel still holds 52.21 percent of the capital and 50.96 percent of the voting rights of Iliad but only 1.05 percent of the capital directly, the French markets regulator said on Wednesday.

As a result of the operation, 50.2 percent of Iliad's capital is held by HoldCo and 0.96 percent by a second holding owned by Niel, NJJ Holding.

(Reporting by Jean-Michel Belot; Writing by Maya Nikolaeva; Editing by Leigh Thomas)