Allen & Overy (A&O) advised Dutch telecoms group KPN on its £12.9bn joint venture with US telecoms company BellSouth to acquire German cellular operator E-Plus Mobilfunk. A&O also advised KPN on the £8.4bn loan from a banking syndicate led by ABN Amro and JP Morgan. Under the deal’s terms, KPN Mobile will hold 22.5% of the joint venture and 77.5% will be held by BellSouth. Corporate partners Alistair Asher and Steven Shuit led the team. Gleiss Lutz Hootz Hirsch, led by corporate partner Hans Joerg Scheer, supported. BellSouth was advised in-house, led by Russell Case and Dan Bradley. Baker & McKenzie advised in Germany and the Netherlands, led by corporate partner Rainer Stachels. Kilpatrick Stockton, led by corporate partner Stanley Blackburn, also advised BellSouth. Slaughter and May, led by banking partner Richard Slater, advised the banks on financing.
Manches advised publishing group Blackwell on a joint venture with the Netherlands’ electronic publishing company Swets & Zeitlinger to combine the journal subscription agency of both companies to form the largest global subscription agent with an annual turnover of more than £625m. Corporate finance partner Mark Douglas led the team. Boekel de Neree, led by Philip Paterson, advised Blackwell in the Netherlands. Proskauer Rose, led by Mike Sirkin, advised Blackwell in the US. CMS Cameron McKenna, led by corporate partner Martin Mendelssohn, advised Swets in the UK. Derks Star Busmann Hanotiau corporate partner Tom van Duuren advised Swets in the Netherlands and Gilbert Segall & Young, led by corporate partner Arthur Rosenberg, advised Swets in the US.
