8 April – LAWFUEL – Law News Network – International legal practice Allen & Overy assisted JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, arrangers and bookrunners, to finance a leveraged buy-out of an 80.87% stake in TIM Hellas Communications S.A., a leading Greek mobile telecommunications operator. The acquisition values TIM Hellas at approximately ˆ1.6 billion.
The acquisition will be made by equity investors Apax Partners and Texas Pacific Group from the international telecoms operator TIM Group. It is subject to regulatory approval and competition clearance and is expected to close by July 2005. Following completion of the acquisition of TIM Group’s shareholding, it is intended that the remaining shares of TIM Hellas will be acquired through a cash merger under Greek law.
Partner Tim Polglase said: “This was a challenging and complex deal, the first ever LBO in the Greek market. We had to deal with a number of aspects of Greek law which prevented the use of normal LBO structures. The transaction is partly a private acquisition and partly a public-to-private deal, which caused further issues. The ultimate structure is innovative and is flexible enough to cope with these issues. We are delighted to have worked with Deutsche and JPMorgan once again.”
The Allen & Overy team was led by partners Tim Polglase and Yannis Manuelides from London and partner Henri Wagner from Luxembourg, assisted by a team of Allen & Overy lawyers including senior associates Greg Brown and David Campbell, associates Nayna Ahmed, Nicolas Steichen and Gregory Piavent and trainees Giles Travers, Kristoph Meckle and Corinne Staves.
Latham & Watkins advised the arrangers on other tranches of the financing and T.J. Koutalides and Norton Rose (Athens) advised them on Greek law. Shearman & Sterling, Karatzas & Partners, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Arendt & Medernach represented the sponsors.
For further information, please contact, Tim Polglase (tim.polglase@allenovery.com) in London on +44 20 7330 2603, Yannis Manuelides
(yannis.manuelides@allenovery.com) in London on +44 20 7330 2575 or Jo Shepherd (jo.shepherd@allenovery.com) in London on +44 20 7330 2195.
