PARIS, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Altice France said on Monday

that its debt restructuring had been approved by Paris'

commercial court, which could pave the way for a sale of its

French telecoms unit SFR.

Markets have speculated that Altice France would offload SFR

to cut its debt as higher interest rates and a heavy debt

repayment schedule weigh on the privately-held company.

In an internal email, reviewed by Reuters, Altice and SFR

directors said the restructuring deal would cut Altice's

financial debt by more than 9 billion euros ($10.4 billion),

reduce financial costs by nearly 400 million euros per year, and

postpone upcoming repayment deadlines to between 2028 and 2033.

Altice has been in talks for months with creditors to reduce

its debt from 24.1 billion euros to 15.5 billion euros, but the

agreement needed court approval.

The court did not follow a public prosecutor's request to

exclude SFR from the restructuring, which could open the way for

a sale, although Altice said no offers were on the table at the

moment.

"No offer, not even an indicative one, has been received to

date (for SFR)," the Altice and SFR directors said in their

joint email.

"If we were to receive one, whatever it may be and wherever

it comes from, our responsibility (and that of our shareholders)

will be to study it," they added.

The Financial Times reported last month that French telecom

operators Orange, Iliad-owned Free and

construction-to-telecoms conglomerate Bouygues were

exploring a deal to carve out SFR from Altice.

Altice France director Arthur Dreyfuss and SFR director

Mathieu Coq also said in their email that as a result of the

restructuring, Altice France shareholder Patrick Drahi's stake

would fall from 100% to 55%, with the remaining 45% going to the

company's creditors.

($1 = 0.8648 euros)