SK&S advises the Iliad group in the takeover of Play

Our lawyers advise the French group Iliad in the takeover of Play Communications S.A. through a public tender offer for the sale of all Play shares having the value of almost PLN 10 billion.

On Monday, 21 September 2020, Iliad announced a tender offer to subscribe for the sale of all shares in Play Communications S.A. The value of the announced tender offer is almost PLN 10 billion. Subscriptions for the sale of the shares will be accepted from 19 October to 17 November 2020. Following the takeover of Play, Iliad will become the sixth biggest telecommunications operator in Europe having 41 million clients.

Currently, Iliad is one of the largest French providers of telecommunications services. It has 11 thousand employees and provides services to a total of 26 million clients in France and Italy. Play is the largest mobile operator in Poland with over 15 million clients.

We advise our Client with respect to all elements of the transaction governed by the Polish law, in particular in preparing and conducting the tender offer for the sale of the shares, structuring the transaction, corporate, tax and regulatory matters, as well as in matters related to the financing of the transaction and arrangements with the largest Play’s shareholders: Kenbourne Invest II and Tollerton Investments Limited.

The transaction team supervised by Dr Marcin Olechowski, Partner, comprises: Andrzej Motyka, Senior CounselJustyna Młodzianowska, Of Counsel, Witold Kurek, Senior Counsel, Karol Skibniewski, Senior Associate and Anna Bartosiewicz, Associate. Advice on tax issues is provided by Sławomir Łuczak, Partner and Magdalena Polak, Associate from the Tax Department. Advice on antimonopoly and regulatory issues is provided by Krzysztof Kanton, Partner and Marta Kupczak-Strzelecka, Senior Counsel from the Competition Law and Telecommunications Law practice.

We cooperate closely with the lawyers from the Paris office of the leading French law firm Bredin Prat, who are the lead advisor to the Iliad group.

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