Founded in Paris in 1920, Gide is a leading international law firm with 12 offices spread throughout the world.
Gide is physically present in six regions of the world, with 11 offices, enabling it to act on cases globally.
3 February 2015
Deals | Algeria| M&A
The transfer by Global Telecom Holding (GTH), VimpelCom Ltd’s listed Egyptian subsidiary, to the Algerian National Investment Fund (Fonds National d’Investissement) (FNI), of 51% of Omnium Telecom Algérie (OTA, formerly known as Orascom Telecom Algérie), leading mobile operator in Algeria, was completed on January 30, 2015 in Algiers for a price of 2.6 billion US dollars, in addition to the distribution of an exceptional dividend in the amount of 1.8 billion US dollars.
On the same date, GTH and the FNI entered into a shareholders’ agreement governing their relationship within OTA and its wholly owned subsidiary, Optimum Telecom Algérie (Optimum). GTH shall continue to exercise operational control over OTA, thus allowing GTH and VimpelCom to continue to fully consolidate OTA.
The successful completion of this transfer brought to a close the international arbitration brought by GTH against the Algerian State on April 12, 2012, and lifted the foreign exchange operations and/or import restrictions put in place by the Bank of Algeria against OTA on April 15, 2010.
This transfer (including the contribution by OTA of its telecommunication activities to Optimum, as well as the credit facilities awarded to OTA and Optimum with a syndicate of Algerian and international banks in an aggregate amount of 0.9 billion US dollars) is the largest M&A deal conducted to date in Algeria.
Gide advised VimpelCom and GTH on the Algerian and French law aspects of this operation, with a team comprising partners Samy Laghouati and Jean-Gabriel Flandrois, and associates Youlia Haidous and Catherine Ivari.
Akin Gump, incumbent counsel to VimpelCom and GTH, also intervened in the context of this operation.
