The investment company NJJ Holding, owned by French billionaire Xavier Niel, has completed the acquisition of two large Ukrainian telecommunications companies – lifecell mobile operator and Datagroup-Volia fixed-line Internet provider. This was reported in a press release by Horizon Capital.
According to Xavier Niel, this landmark French investment in Ukraine’s telecommunications sector is expected to bring significant benefits to customers, the market and the country as a whole.
The next step is to merge the acquired companies to create a converged telecommunications platform. NJJ, Horizon Capital led by Elena Kosharna and Mykhailo Shelemba, CEO of Datagroup-Volia, will participate in this process.
An important component of the deal is a $435 million financing package provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
It is worth noting that this transaction has passed all the necessary regulatory procedures. In particular, on July 25, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) approved the application for the acquisition of lifecell by the French company DVL Telecom, a subsidiary of NJJ Capital. Earlier, in March 2024, DVL Telecom received permission to acquire a controlling stake in Datagroup-Volya.
DVL is an acronym consisting of the first letters of the names of the companies to be merged: D – Datagroup, V – Volia, L – lifecell. That is, DVL Telecom is a new company that will now own three Ukrainian telecom operators and merge them into one large company.
Telecommunications market experts say that this deal is the largest M&A transaction in Ukraine over the past decade. The merger of three powerful telecom players – Datagroup, Volia and lifecell – under the auspices of a French investor opens up new prospects for the development of the industry in Ukraine.
Source: https://mediasat.info/