Law firm Paul Hastings is advising Monaco Telecom on its agreement with MTN to acquire the entire issued share capital of MTN Cyprus, for net sale proceeds of EUR260 million.
MTN Cyprus is the fastest growing mobile and fixed operator in Cyprus with more than 400,000 customers and 2017 revenues of EUR123 million.
Monaco Telecom is majority owned by NJJ, the investment vehicle of Xavier Niel, one of France’s most prominent business leaders and an investor in telecommunications and technology ventures for 25 years.
Paul Hastings has previously advised NJJ on its EUR3.5bn acquisition of a majority stake in eir, the Irish telecommunications and broadband business, and on its acquisition of a majority stake in Monaco Telecom, the incumbent telecommunications provider in the Principality of Monaco.
The Paul Hastings team in London was led by partner Garrett Hayes with senior associate David Prowse and associate Sam Waite. Tax partner Arun Birla and associate Hannah Gray, privacy partner Sarah Pearce, and competition partner Pierre Kirch also advised on the transaction.
Lazard, led by Vincent Le Stradic, was financial adviser to Monaco Telecom; Goodwin Procter (Arnaud Fromion) advised Monaco Telecom on financing; Dr K Chrysostomides & Co LLC acted as Cypriot counsel to Monaco Telecom.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (Bruce Embley and Aathmika Kularatnam) acted as legal adviser to MTN, while Akira (Andre Sokol) acted as financial adviser.
