Linklaters, Latham, Orrick and Hengeler acted for Vodafone, GIP and KKR telecoms combined endeavor

Linklaters, Latham, Orrick and Hengeler acted for Vodafone, GIP and KKR telecoms combined endeavor

Vodafone is projected to nurture no less than €3.2bn after selling a portion of its ownership in German telecommunications company Vantage Towers

The fund consortium led by private equity companies Global Infrastructure Partners and KKR received advice on Vodafone's partial sale of its share in German telecom infrastructure company Vantage Towers from Linklaters, Latham & Watkins, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, and German firm Hengeler Mueller.

In addition to Hengeler's further counsel to KKR, Linklaters advised Vodafone and Latham & Watkins provided assistance to the investment consortium. Vantage Towers was counselled by Orrick. As part of the deal, Vodafone will give the consortium and itself an equal stake in a new holding company that will eventually acquire 81.7% of Vodafone's current stake in Vantage Towers. A maximum of 50% of the shares may eventually belong to the fund consortium.

To acquire all of Vantage Towers' outstanding shares not already owned by Vodafone, the holding company has announced a voluntary public takeover offer for €32 per share, representing a premium of around €4. Vodafone expects to generate at least €3.2 billion from the sale, which it plans to use to pay down debt. The agreement values Vantage Towers at €16 billion, according to Reuters. The transaction is contingent on obtaining the required regulatory clearances.

According to Nick Read, CEO of Vodafone, "This deal satisfactorily achieves Vodafone's stated aims of preserving co-control over a strategically important asset, deconsolidation Vantage Towers from our balance sheet to ensure we can optimize its capital structure, and generating large upfront cash proceeds for the group to support our focus of deleveraging."

Linklaters' team was led by Düsseldorf-based European Head of corporate/M&A Kristina Klaaßen-Kaiser, fellow corporate partner Stephan Oppenhoff (Frankfurt) and counsel Christoph van Lier (Düsseldorf).

The Hengeler team advising KKR was led by Düsseldorf M&A partner Christian Schwandtner with support from M&A partner Martin Ulbrich (also in Düsseldorf), Brussels-based antitrust partner Markus Röhrig and public law partner Jan Bonhage in Berlin. Antitrust counsel Anja Balitzki and corporate counsel Matthias Cloppeburg were also on the deal alongside associates Oda Goetzke, Lech Kopczyński and Anton Petrov.

The Orrick team was led by Wilhelm Nolting-Hauff, Oliver Duys and Nikita Tkatchenko.

GIP partner and head of the digital infrastructure Will Brilliant said, "As key partners with Vodafone and KKR, we will apply our deep infrastructure knowledge and resources to help the firm deliver the finest data connections for individuals and businesses and contribute to enabling Europe's digital future in the interest of all stakeholders."

KKR's acquisition of a minority share in the Norwegian telecommunications business Telenor Fiber was advised by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and the Norwegian firm Selmer last month.