The sale of Orange Austria to Hutchison 3G Holdings Austria GmbH (Hutchison Austria), a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Limited, Hong Kong, has been one of the most challenging transactions in recent years. Parallel to the main transaction, the parties also negotiated the sale of Orange Austria's MVNO subsidiary Yesss! Telekommunikation GmbH (Yesss!), together with base stations, frequencies and rights to the "One" trademark, to the Telekom Austria Group (TA).
The entire transaction, including Yesss! and the assets sold to TA, is valued at approximately EUR 1.3 billion. The Yesss! deal, together with the associated assets, is valued at EUR 390 million.
CHSH previously advised Telekom Austria AG on structuring and negotiating this transaction, one of the largest and most challenging M&A transactions in Austria in recent years. The parties signed the agreements in February 2012.
Now CHSH has also been able to secure approval for Telekom Austria AG from the competent regulatory and competition authorities. CHSH achieved particular success in Austrian merger control proceedings. Approval for the acquisition of Yesss! was obtained at the end of one of the most demanding and complex merger control proceedings in Austria, without the transaction being made subject to any conditions. Closing took place following satisfaction of all conditions precedent.
Telekom Austria AG was advised by a team led by CHSH partners Albert Birkner (Corporate, M&A) and Bernhard Kofler-Senoner (Antitrust), which also consisted of Claudia Schmidt (Corporate, M&A), Elke Sagmeister (Corporate, IP), Nick Yanev (Corporate, Antitrust) and Hans Kristoferitsch (Public Sector).