By Toby Geoghegan
Gibson Dunn has advised French conglomerate Vivendi on the sale of its 53 percent stake in Maroc Telecom to Dubai-based Etisalat in one of the biggest emerging market deals this year.Freshfields represented the buyer.
The Gibson Dunn team was led by Paris-based partners Ariel Harroch and Marie-Charlotte Trebuchet, who were assisted by Moroccan lawyers Nadia Kettani of Kettani Law Firm, and partner Mohamed Hdid of Saaidi Hdid Consultants. The Freshfields team was led by partners Hervé Pisani and Alan Mason.
Vivendi is expected to sell its stake for around 4.2 billion euros ($5.5 billion), close to its current market value. When finalized, the Maroc Telecom deal would be the first major divestment by Vivendi as part of its year-old strategy to reduce exposure to capital-intensive telecoms so as to focus more on its media business.Earlier it tried and failed to sell its Brazilian telecom unit, GVT, and video games maker Activision Blizzard.
Maroc Telecom offers fixed-line, mobile and Internet services in the kingdom and is one of Africa's biggest telecom groups with units in Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali and Mauritania.
Vivendi and Etisalat have been negotiating the deal since late April, when the United Arab Emirates-based company submitted a binding offer that was deemed more attractive than a lower, rival bid from Qatar-backed Ooredoo.
The Moroccan state telecom company owns 30 percent of Maroc, the kingdom's biggest mobile and fixed communications provider and must approve Vivendi's choice of buyer. Once Vivendi and Etisalat have an agreement, the Gulf operator is also required make an offer for minority shares. Morocco wants Etisalat to take on a local partner so those deal details also need to be finalized.
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