Magic circle duo among firms on call as Vodafone seals €18.4bn Liberty Global Europe acquisition
Freshfields, Slaughters, Latham and Shearman among host of firms advising as telecoms giant expands across Europe
May 09, 2018 at 06:11 AM
3 minute read
Slaughter and May, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Shearman & Sterling and Latham & Watkins are among a raft of firms to have won roles on Vodafone's €18.4bn (£16.1bn) purchase of the majority of US cable giant Liberty Global's European assets.
The deal will see Vodafone expand its mobile, cable television and broadband services across the continent with the acquisition of businesses in Germany, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic, including Unitymedia, one of Germany's largest cable networks.
Slaughters is advising longstanding client Vodafone, fielding a team led by M&A head Roland Turnill, alongside corporate partner Susannah Macknay and competition partners Claire Jeffs and Kerry O'Connell.
The magic circle firm's team also includes tax partner Steve Edge, finance partner Oliver Storey, employment partner Jonathan Fenn, intellectual property (IP) and IT partner Duncan Blaikie and real estate partner Jane Edwarde.
Romanian firm Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii acted alongside on Slaughters on local law matters, advising Vodafone Romania on the acquisition of Liberty Global's local cable operator UPC Romania, with a team of lawyers led by deputy managing partner Stefan Damian and Partner Vlad Cercel.
Freshfields, meanwhile, has taken the lead corporate role for Liberty Global, the parent company of Virgin Media. The firm's team is being led by corporate and M&A partner David Sonter alongside IP/IT partner David Brooks, tax partner Peter Clements, employment partner Alice Greenwell and Brussels competition partner Sascha Schubert.
Freshfields Germany lawyers advising on the deal include Hamburg corporate partner Jochen Ellrott, Berlin competition partner Frank Rohling, Hamburg employment partner Boris Dzida and Duesseldorf IP/IT partner Klaus Beucher.
Latham is advising Liberty alongside Freshfields on German antitrust matters, with a team understood to be led by Duesseldorf partner Michael Esser, while Shearman is advising Liberty on US legal matters, with New York M&A partner Robert Katz leading the firm's team. The firm's team also includes global corporate head George Casey, London-based TMT head Jeremy Kutner, New York tax partner Laurence Bambino and Washington tax partner Ethan Harris.
Ropes & Gray is advising Liberty on finance matters with a team led by London based partner Jane Rogers, while CMS is understood to be advising on local law matters in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania.
Slaughters and Freshfields also both advised Vodafone and Liberty respectively in 2016, when the companies agreed to merge their Dutch operations in a deal that saw Vodafone make a €1bn cash payment to Liberty. That deal also handed roles to Allen & Overy (A&O) for Liberty and Dutch firm NautaDutilh for Vodafone.
Freshfields also acted for Liberty Global on its 2014 purchase of a stake in ITV, with Sonter leading the firm's team, while Slaughters took a lead role on Vodafone's 2013 disposal of its 45% stake in US mobile company Verizon Wireless. Turnill played a key role on that deal, assisted by tax partner Edge.
Shearman and Ropes took the lead roles for Liberty Global on its $23.3bn purchase of Virgin Media in 2013, a deal that also handed roles to A&O, Hogan Lovells, Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Hengeler Advises On €7B Baltica 2 Wind Farm Deal Between Ørsted and PGE
2 minute read
Slaughter and May and A&O Shearman Advise as Latest UK Company Goes American
3 minute read
Linklaters Continues Renewable Energy Hot Streak With Latest Offshore Wind Farm Project
2 minute read
Trending Stories
- 1Uber Files RICO Suit Against Plaintiff-Side Firms Alleging Fraudulent Injury Claims
- 2The Law Firm Disrupted: Scrutinizing the Elephant More Than the Mouse
- 3Inherent Diminished Value Damages Unavailable to 3rd-Party Claimants, Court Says
- 4Pa. Defense Firm Sued by Client Over Ex-Eagles Player's $43.5M Med Mal Win
- 5Losses Mount at Morris Manning, but Departing Ex-Chair Stays Bullish About His Old Firm's Future
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
