Schoenherr has advised Swedish telecommunications group Tele2 on the sale of its subsidiary Tele2 Austria to mobile company Hutchison Drei Austria GmbH (Drei) for an enterprise value of EUR 95m. The transaction is expected to occur following approval by the Austrian competition authority.
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 2.9bn in 2016.
Based in Vienna, Drei is 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 Alexander Popp (partner, corporate/M&A) and Thomas Kulnigg (partner, corporate/M&A). They were supported by Manuel Ritt-Huemer (attorney at law, corporate/M&A), Alfred Amann (associate, corporate/M&A), Franz Urlesberger (partner, EU & competition) and Lukas Solek (associate, EU & competition).
Drei was advised by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
