Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have taken the lead roles on French media giant Vivendi’s €4.2bn (£3.6bn) sale of its shareholding in Maroc Telecom. Vivendi has confirmed it has entered exclusive negotiations with UAE telecoms giant Etisalat over a deal which would see it sell off a 53% controlling stake in Morocco’s main telecoms company.
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have taken the lead roles on French media giant Vivendi’s €4.2bn (£3.6bn) sale of its shareholding in Maroc Telecom.
Vivendi has confirmed it has entered exclusive negotiations with UAE telecoms giant Etisalat over a deal which would see it sell off a 53% controlling stake in Morocco’s main telecoms company.
Proceeds from the sale, which is expected to complete before the end of the year, are set to total €4.2bn (£3.6bn) in cash, including the 2012 €310m (£268m) dividend.
Etisalat is being advised by Freshfields, with Paris corporate head Herve Pisani and fellow Paris corporate partner Alan Mason heading the firm’s team.
Meanwhile, Vivendi turned to long-term adviser Gibson Dunn for the mandate, with the US firm fielding a team led by Paris M&A partners Ariel Harroch and Marie-Charlotte Trebuchet.
In Morocco, Gibson Dunn worked alongside Nadia Kettani of Kettani Law Firm and Mohamed Hdid of Saaidi Hdid Consultants.
In the past, Vivendi has been advised by Gibson Dunn partner Ruth Fisher on major deals, including its acquisition of Activision in 2007 and the sale of a majority stake in a Vivendi unit to General Electric in 2003.
In 2011, the firm led its first transaction in the UK for the media company, when Vivendi acquired See Tickets for £83m from Netherlands-based private equity firm Parcom Capital.
For that deal, Parcom was advised by Clifford Chance, which also acted for Vivendi in 2009 on itspurchase of Brazilian telecom company GVT Holdingfor $2.9bn (£1.9bn).
Alex Newman | Legal Week | 25 July 2013 | 14:40
Tags: Corporate / m&a , Technology / media / telecoms
Categories: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer , Morocco, France , U
