LONDON, 9 June 2010 – International law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is pleased to announce that it has advised Bharti Airtel on the financing arrangements supporting its acquisition of the Zain Group’s mobile operations in 15 African jurisdictions for an enterprise value of $10.7 billion.
This transaction is significant as it is the largest ever cross border emerging markets deal, marks a landmark for the global telecoms industry, is one of the largest M&A transactions and financings involving an Indian corporate, and strengthens ties between India and Africa, thus transforming Bharti Airtel into a global telecoms company.
Milbank’s London financing team focuses on advising banks, financial institutions and corporations on the structuring and financing of some of the most significant transactions across the world. In 2009, Milbank advised Bharti Airtel in relation to the financing for its potential $23 billion transaction involving MTN Group Limited of South Africa.
The Milbank team assisting Bharti on these transactions was led by Suhrud Mehta and included partner Glenn Gerstell, senior associates Alistair Hill and Ben Farnsworth and associates Dawn Harding and Alex Schofield. Tax advice was provided by partner Russell Jacobs and senior associate Matthew Mortimer.
Commenting on the deal, Suhrud Mehta said, “This transaction reflects our firm’s strategy to be involved on behalf of our clients in their most challenging and sophisticated transactions. The number of jurisdictions involved in this transaction, regulatory and commercial considerations demanded a highly coordinated team of advisers for Bharti Airtel, working together to structure and close a sophisticated financing transaction. We are very pleased to be a part of that team.”
About Bharti Airtel
Bharti Airtel is set to become the world’s fifth largest wireless company with operations across 18 countries. Bharti’s customer base totals approximately 180 million and includes Zain Africa’s mobile operations in 15 countries with over 42 million customers. Bharti’s telecom footprint will cover 1.8 billion people across Asia and Africa – the second largest population coverage among telecommunication service providers globally.
About Milbank
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is an elite global law firm that for more than 140 years has provided innovative legal solutions in many of the world’s largest, most complex, “first–ever” corporate and financing transactions, restructurings and litigation. Our transactional expertise encompasses capital markets, corporate finance, project finance, acquisition finance and other major fields of law practice. Our clients range from prominent multinational financial, industrial and commercial enterprises to governments, institutions and individuals. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, DC.
Contact
Suhrud Mehta
Partner
T: +44-20-7615-3046
smehta@milbank.com