Millicom and NJJ acquire Telefónica Chile for up to €1.1B: advisors

Pérez-Llorca has advised NJJ Holding on the creation of a joint venture with Millicom for the acquisition of Telefónica Chile. Telefónica has sold its Chilean subsidiary to a fund owned by entrepreneur Xavier Niel and to operator Millicom for up to €1.156 billion. With this operation, NJJ will hold 51% and Millicom 49%.

NJJ is the personal investment vehicle of French entrepreneur Xavier Niel. Millicom—whose largest shareholder, with a 40% stake, is also Niel through Atlas Investissement— owns the Iliad telecom group. NJJ, for its part, is the majority shareholder of real estate group Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, holds investments in emerging technology companies and co-founded Mediawan, Europe’s leading independent production studio.

In this way, Telefónica withdraws from certain markets in the Americas. Millicom, which operates in Latin America under the Tigo brand, has also recently completed the acquisition from Telefónica of its Colombian subsidiary. The company has also acquired Telefónica’s businesses in Ecuador and Uruguay.

Under the terms of the agreement, upon completion of the Chile transaction Telefónica will contribute USD 92 million, “to be used to meet certain payments and ensure balance-sheet stability,” Millicom said in a statement. According to Telefónica, the sale of its Chilean business is part of “the Group Telefónica’s asset portfolio management policy and is aligned with its strategy to exit Hispano-America”.

The Pérez-Llorca team advising on the transaction was led by corporate M&A partners Álvaro Ramírez de Haro and Francisco Gómez (both pictured), supported by corporate M&A lawyers Matías Osses, Javier Ihatsu and Julián Arango. The tax aspects were handled by tax partner Norma Peña, together with tax lawyers Sergi Aguilar and Anna Comas.