Clifford Chance
We offer clients an internationally integrated team of telecoms experts, working on transactions across the globe and leveraging our local teams based in our offices across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas.
The telecommunications sector has been undergoing radical transformations across the globe for decades, driven by technological innovation and changing regulatory landscapes. That trend shows no sign of abating and the challenges (and opportunities) in this sector continue to grow.
Yet telcos are not passive in the face of these transformations. Rather, it is the telcos which drive the deployment of new technologies and provide critical infrastructure and platforms for entire ecosystems of innovative businesses. The telcos are the key players at the forefront of the ongoing technological revolution and the new business models it enables.
You need lawyers who reflect the complexity, diversity and innovative spirit of the businesses they represent.
We offer an exceptional network of telecommunications-savvy specialists across many areas of legal practice and across jurisdictions, so you can expect the same world-class service and sector knowledge wherever you do business.
Client experience
- Clifford Chance advises Tele2 on the agreement with Deutsche Telekom to sell T-Mobile Netherlands
- Clifford Chance has advised KKR on the sale by Telxius of its telecommunications towers division to American Towers Corporation for EUR 7.7 billion
- Clifford Chance advises newly established and independently managed Digital Infrastructure Vehicle (DIV) as Deutsche Telekom and Cellnex become anchor investors and combine tower business in the Netherlands
- Clifford Chance advises Cellnex Telecom on the acquisition, for approximately EUR 10 bn, of the European telecommunications tower assets of CK Hutchison Holdings
- Clifford Chance advises Cellnex on the acquisition of c. 7,000 telecommunications sites of Play in Poland
- Clifford Chance advises Cellnex Telecom on its acquisition of Arqiva's Telecoms Towers Business for £2 billion
- Clifford Chance advises Telefonica on the merger between O2 and Liberty Global's Virgin Media
- GSMA in a follow-on investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2018 into GSMA's standard-setting practices that involved major U.S. telecom companies. We convinced the Department of Justice to take a creative approach to resolving its investigation through the issuance of a Business Review Letter.Clifford Chance advises Cellnex Telecom on its acquisition of Arqiva's Telecoms Towers Business for £2 billion
- Clifford Chance advises Tele2 on the proposed merger of its Dutch operation Tele2 Netherlands with T-Mobile Netherlands, the Dutch subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom
- Clifford Chance advises Cellnex Telecom on its acquisition of Shere Group Limited for EUR€393 million
- Clifford Chance advises Inmarsat on its strategic partnership with Deutsche Telekom to deliver in-flight high-speed internet access
- Clifford Chance advises Deutsche Telekom on the sale, together with Orange, of mobile operator EE to BT for GBP£12.5 billion in cash and shares
- Clifford Chance advises major media and telecoms groups on joint ventures to develop online classifieds platforms
- Zain KSA on its capital restructuring, which saw Zain KSA's capital reduced from SAR14 billion to SAR4.8 billion before being increased by SAR6 billion (approximately USD$1.6 billion) by way of a rights issue
- American Tower Corporation on the acquisition of a wireless communication sites portfolio from German mobile operator E-Plus, a subsidiary of Dutch operator KPN
Leading Telecoms experience in Africa
We have Telecoms specialists who focus on Africa and who are supported by the Firm's top-tier Africa practice, based in London, New York, Paris and Dubai and on the ground in Casablanca. We have been involved in a number of leading Telecoms deals in the region, including advising:
- CDC Group plc on its investment in Pan-African fibre operator, Liquid Telecom
- Unitel S.A. on its successful bid for the fourth mobile operator licence in Zambia
- American Tower Corporation (ATC) on its purchase of the Nigerian communications tower business of Indian global mobile telecommunications giant Bharti Airtel Limited, valued at about US$1.1 billion and adding more than 4,800 towers to ATC's global portfolio
- the lenders on an €8 billion acquisition financing facility for Ooredoo (Qatar Telecom) to finance a proposed offer by Ooredoo for shares in Maroc Telecom
- Wendel on its investment in the IHS Group, active in the telecom tower infrastructures business in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire
- American Tower Corporation (ATC) on a joint venture with MTN Africa’s largest mobile-phone company to own, operate and manage communications infrastructure in Ghana and Uganda
- Etisalat, the UAE’s leading telecommunications company, on its proposed acquisition of a US$12 billion majority stake in Zain, the leading telecommunications company in Kuwait, which also owns or has equity interests in seven other Middle East North Africa telecommunications carriers