Schoenherr has advised Swedish telecommunications group Tele2 on the sale of subsidiary Tele2 Austria to mobile company Hutchison Drei Austria GmbH for an enterprise value of EUR 95 million. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised the buyer on the transaction, which is expected to close following approval by the Austrian competition authority.
According to Schoenherr, "Tele2 Austria is a local telecommunications provider and the second-largest landline company in Austria based on the number of business clients, with one out of every three large Austrian firms counting as a Tele2 customer. The Tele2 AB group is listed on the Swedish stock exchange and is active in nine markets, including Sweden, the Netherlands, and Germany. The group reported revenue of EUR 2.9 billion in 2016."
Schoenherr describes Vienna-based Hutchison Drei as "the largest local provider of mobile Internet and the market leader in the mobile entertainment segment. In 2013, it acquired mobile provider Orange and, following the Tele2 acquisition, is set to become one of the largest telecoms operators in Austria with around four million mobile, landline, and Internet connections. Drei and Tele2 will have around 1,500 employees in Austria."
The Schoenherr team advising Tele2 was jointly led by Partners Alexander Popp and Thomas Kulnigg, supported by Partner Franz Urlesberger, Attorney at Law Manuel Ritt-Huemer, and Associates Alfred Amann and Lukas Solek.
The Freshfields team was led by Partner Bertram Burtscher and included Partner Thomas Lubbig, Principal Associates Ludwig Hartenau and Heiko Jander-McAlister, Senior Associate Maria Dreher, and Associates Tatjana Krutzler, Gernot Fritz, and Lukas Treichl.
