A consortium of investors led by French billionaire Xavier Niel has officially completed the agreement on the purchase and merger of the Ukrainian mobile operator Lifecell with the provider of fixed communication services Datagroup-Volia. Investment company Horizon Capital, which participated in the deal, confirmed this merger.
Lifecell, the third largest mobile operator in Ukraine after Kyivstar and Vodafone, is merging with Datagroup-Volia, which specializes in fixed line and pay TV services. The operation was approved after a Kyiv court in April lifted the seizure of Lifecell shares, some of which belonged to sanctioned Russian billionaire Mykhailo Fridman.
According to a statement from Turkcell, which owned Lifecell, the value of the transaction exceeds $524.3 million. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) supported the deal with loans worth $435 million.
Mykhailo Shelemba, CEO of Datagroup-Volia, will be the head of the newly formed company. Pierre Danon, who lives in Paris, will remain the non-executive chairman of the supervisory board.
The new combined company will serve about 10 million mobile subscribers in Ukraine, and the fixed network will provide more than 4 million connection points throughout the country. This integration will allow the platform to offer the Triple-Play service, which combines mobile and fixed communication, as well as pay TV.
