Lovells

Lovells is advising the French telecommunications group Iliad on negotiations with Telecom Italia Spa in the sale of Liberty Surf Group SAS.  The purchase price will be based on a maximum enterprise value of €800 million and will make Iliad the leading ADSL alternative operator in France.  

Liberty Surf Group is a French internet services provider and trades under the Alice brand.  The deal is expected to close later this year.  

The Lovells team advising Iliad is led by partner Pascal de Moidrey and counsel Edith Boucaya with assistance from Olivier Fille-Lambie (banking), Hervé Israël and Nicolas Not (tax), Pierre de Montalembert and Ombline Ancelin (competition), Lionel de Souza (IT) and Jean-Marc Albiol (employment)  

Comment: In a difficult M&A and banking market, this transaction is one of the most important deals in France in 2008 to date.