Slaughter and May is advising Reliance Communications (RCOM) on its transaction with Maxis Communications Berhad (MCB) to combine RCOM’s Indian wireless business with Aircel.

The transaction is the largest-ever consolidation in the Indian telecom sector and will create an operator clearly ranked in the top 4 operators in India by customer base and revenues. The merged company will have combined assets of $9.7 billion (INR 65,000 crore) and net worth of $5.2 billion (INR 35,000 crore).

RCOM and MCB will each hold 50% of the merged company with equal board and committee representation.

The transaction, which is subject to applicable approvals, will be implemented by way of a court-approved process of demerger.

Slaughter and May is advising RCOM alongside JSA (J. Sagar Associates) whose team, led by Sandeep Mehta, provided Indian law advice to RCOM.

Contacts

Corporate: Simon Nicholls (partner), Murray Cox (partner), Harry Hecht (associate), Raghav Ghai (associate), James Foster (associate)