The telecoms sector involves a wide variety of players, including providers of fixed line, mobile, cable, satellite and other infrastructure services, as well as ISPs and data network operators.
Telecoms companies are constantly evolving, expanding and seeking new markets. As new enabling technologies and applications are developed and regulations evolve, telecoms companies need new business models to exploit fully the opportunities, and to fend off competitors in this highly competitive market. The sector is increasingly global, driven by the determination of operators to expand their market share, increase margins and service the global needs of their multinational customers. In addition, cost saving measures such as leveraging low cost centres for off-shoring telecom functions and infrastructure sharing are becoming increasingly important to telecoms companies, as well as debt restructuring or refinancing.
Linklaters provides a full service to its telecoms clients such as Vodafone, AT&T and Zain, including advising on strategic M&A activity, complex, cross-border regulatory issues and major commercial contracts with customers and suppliers. Linklaters also advises both lenders and borrowers in the major telecoms markets, including on secured and unsecured syndicated loans, high yield bonds, lease finance, vendor finance, leveraged facilities and acquisition finance. The global sector team advises clients across the major European telecom markets, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
The firm’s telecoms lawyers include experts from across Linklaters’ market leading corporate M&A, TMT, commercial and financial practices as well as regulatory experts. Working closely with industry regulators, government bodies and opinion-formers means that the team has exceptional insight into the complexities of the commercial and regulatory environment in which telecoms companies operate.
Contact us
To discuss legal issues with Linklaters’ global telecoms team, please contact sector leaders Iain Fenn, Tanguy Van Overstraeten, Celia Lam, Scott Campbell or Julian Cummingham-Day.
You can find out more about Linklaters’ telecoms capabilities from sector manager Miriam Donnellan (44 20) 7456 4386.
Recent telecoms transactions include advising:
- Telecom Italia on the sale of HanseNet to Telefónica for €900 million
- Vodafone on its U.S.$11.1 billion acquisition of Hutchison Essar, one of India’s three largest mobile operators
- Senior lenders on the financial restructuring of Italian telecommunication company Tiscali Group
- Senior Noteholders on the restructuring of the Hellas Group, one of the largest telecom operators in Greece
- Shin Satellite on the French legal aspects of the financing of the iPSTAR broadband satellite project, with specific emphasis on the COFACE tranche of the financing
- Zain on its attempted reverse take-over of Paltel
- Etisalat on numerous licence acquisitions throughout the Middle East and Africa
- Harbinger on the regulatory aspects of the proposed acquisition of Inmarsat by MSV/Skyterra
- China Netcom Group Corporation (Hong Kong) Limited on its US$23.8 billion merger with China Unicom Limited by way of a Scheme of Arrangement, a landmark transaction in China’s restructuring of its telecoms sector
- China Telecom Corporation Limited on its US$15.8 billion acquisition of China Unicom's CDMA business, a milestone in the development of China’s telecoms industry
- Medi Telecom on a €1bn multi-source project financing of the second GSM licence in Morocco for Medi Telecom involving IFC, Swedish and Spanish ECAs, international banks and local banks
