DLA Piper has advised NEQSOL on the acquisition of VF Ukraine (one of the largest local mobile network operators with c. 20 million subscribers) from Russian telecommunications operator MTS Group for USD734 million, including a.c. USD84 million of earn-out payment. In addition, the firm advised NEQSOL on the raising of acquisition financing for the deal from a group of international funds and financial institutions led by J.P. Morgan Securities Plc and Raiffeisen Bank International A.G.

The cross-practice, multiple office team provided full legal and tax support throughout the transaction. This transaction is of unprecedented scale in the market due to its unique financing and implementation structure that the international DLA Piper team developed. The DLA Piper Ukraine team was led by Partners Alla Kozachenko (Corporate and M&A) and Illya Sverdlov (Tax), with the key support from Partners Galyna Zagorodniuk (Corporate and M&A, Antitrust and Competition), Oleksandr Kurdydyk (Finance, Projects and Restructuring), Legal Directors Dmytro Pshenychniuk (Finance, Projects and Restructuring) and Natalia Kirichenko (Intellectual Property & Technology), Senior Associates Dmytro Rylovnikov and Lyudmyla Dzhurylyuk (both - Tax).

The DLA Piper's international team was led by London office partners Ben Forgiel-Jenkins (Corporate and M&A), Mike Conradi (Intellectual Property & Technology) and Mark Dwyer (Finance, Projects and Restructuring).

The DLA Piper Ukraine transaction team included Country Managing Partner Margarita Karpenko, Senior Associate Olena Martsynovska (both - Employment and Benefits), Associates Yuliia Brusko (Corporate and M&A), Danylo Rudyk (Corporate and M&A, Antitrust and Competition), Viktoriia Luganska and Zhanna Babych (both - Finance, Projects and Restructuring), Ivan Shatov (Intellectual Property & Technology), Junior Associates Andrii Falendysh (Tax), Kateryna Tyshchenko (Intellectual Property & Technology), Paralegals Anna Vizniak and Andrii Vlaiko (both - Corporate and M&A).

LINK: https://www.dlapiper.com/en/ukraine/news/2019/12/dla-piper-advises-neqsol/