Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Malaysian telecoms giant Axiata on a US$600 million equity investment in its telecoms infrastructure company, edotco.

The largest global telecoms tower sector placement of the year saw Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) invest US$400 million in edotco, alongside a US$200 million investment by Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund.

Established in 2012, edotco owns and manages over 25,000 telecoms towers in Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Sri Lanka.

Osborne Clarke has advised TWT agency group on its investment in xmachina GmbH. xmachina will be part of TWT Digital Group, broadening its product portfolio with e-health solutions, healthcare apps and healthcare marketing services under the name TWT Digital Health.

TWT Digital Group is an agency group that focuses on successful implementation of digital transformation in companies. The group offers strategic consulting, planning, creation, realisation, operation and marketing for long-term online success.

Setterwalls has advised Dialect AB (publ) in connection with a public offering by Perusa Partners Fund 2, L. P. to the shareholders of Dialect AB (publ), comprising all the shares in the company. Dialect delivers IT and telephony solutions to businesses. The offer valued the shares in Dialect to around SEK 248.4 million, and at the end of the initial acceptance period, the offer had been accepted by approximately 99.5 percent of the company's shareholders.

Baker McKenzie advised the Heraeus Group on the sale of the global high-performance target materials business to the US-based Materion Group. The business segment sold entails the so-called sputtering targets, i.e. materials for the production of the thinnest precious metal coatings for the glass, photovoltaic and semiconductor industries. The business activities sold are located at the Heraeus headquarters in Hanau as well as in Taiwan, USA, China and Japan. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.

Gide has advised Webhelp, European leading customer experience and business process outsourcing company, on its acquisition of a majority shareholding in MyStudioFactory, a French market leader in designing and implementing mobile user experience solutions and app development. This acquisition is in line with Webhelp’s strategy of growing geographically and by sector expertise.

The Gide team was comprised of partner Thomas Urlacher and Natalia Li.

Accedo Invest AB has acquired all shares in Digiflare, Inc., a leading video UX company headquartered in Canada. The current top executives and sellers of Digiflare, Inc. will take on senior management positions within the merged organisation, alongside Accedo's current management.

The merged organisation will have a global reach and be a leading video service provider.

Mannheimer Swartling together with Blakes in Toronto advised Accedo and its majority shareholder SEB Private Equity Opportunity Fund III on the transaction.

We advised the Finnish teleoperator DNA Oyj in its listing on the official list of Nasdaq Helsinki. This was the largest IPO in Finland in a decade. The Company’s current market value is over EUR 1.3 billion.

The initial public offering, which consisted of public, institutional and personnel offering, was oversubscribed, and after the offering the Company has over 10,000 shareholders. Trading with the Company’s shares on the official list of Nasdaq Helsinki began on 2 December 2016.

Gleiss Lutz advised GoDaddy Inc. on its acquisition of Host Europe Group (HEG) from the private equity firm Cinven. GoDaddy acquires HEG for EUR 1.69 billion, including EUR 605 million paid to the selling shareholders and EUR 1.08 billion assumed net debt. Closing is subject to customary regulatory approvals and expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2017. GoDaddy is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Jones Day advised Lycamobile UK Limited on litigation before a U.K. court in connection with plaintiff Lebara’s claim against Lycamobile that Lyca intentionally blocked its customers' access to Lebara’s internet services.

For additional information about this matter, please contact: Nicholas Cotter, Alan Davis
Client(s): Lycamobile UK Limited
Practice(s): Antitrust & Competition Law, Global Disputes, Government Regulation
Office(s): Milan, London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt

Germany’s Digital Association Bitkom launches a competition in cooperation with the German Association of Towns and Municipalities

Berlin—Global law firm Dentons is advising Bitkom, Germany's digital association, on its Digital City competition, which it is launching together with the German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB). The winning city will be provided with the latest digital technology in the fields of mobility, energy, health and education at the beginning of 2018. The competition aims to create a model city with international reach.