EU Commission approves Swisscom’s acquisition of Vodafone Italy
Following the announcement of the acquisition of Vodafone Italia on 15 March 2024, Swisscom notified the transaction to the EU Commission, Directorate-General for Competition, under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation on 19 August 2024. On 23 September 2024, the EU Commission confirmed that the waiting period has elapsed, thus clearing the transaction unconditionally.
About the transaction
Swisscom secured the financing for the purchase price of EUR 8 billion in May 2024 and has received unconditional approval from both the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in Italy (Golden Power legislation) and the Swiss Competition Commission.
The transaction is still subject to other regulatory approvals, including that of the Italian Competition Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato). The latter announced on 11 September 2024 that it had opened an in-depth investigation (Phase II) to assess the acquisition under Italy’s merger control rules. In line with the announcement dated 15 March 2024, Swisscom expects the transaction to complete in the first quarter of 2025.
Legance with Swisscom
Legance assisted Swisscom with a multi-disciplinary team led by senior partner Filippo Troisi and partner Francesco Florio with senior counsel Laura Li Donni, who handled the commercial agreements, managing associate Walter Campagna, senior associate Paolo Piccirilli and associates Emilio De Niro, Luigi Gaudiosi and Elettra Prati for the m&a profiles. Regulatory, IT and golden power aspects were followed by partner Valerio Mosca with senior associate Carlo Corazzini and associate Margherita Carere, while labour aspects were followed by counsel Marco D’Agostini with managing associate Daniele Dellacasa. The IP profiles were followed by partner Monica Riva with senior associate Carlo Polizzi and associates Andrea Bardi and Sara Geninatti.
McDermott Will & Emery with Swisscom
McDermott Will & Emery assisted Swisscom as tax advisor with a team led by partner Andrea Tempestini and comprising partner Alessio Persiani, counsel Giuseppe Mazzarella and associates Mauro Pisano, Michele Mantiero, Giovanni Sajeva and Sara Piccinni.
White & Case with Swisscome
White & Case assisted Swisscom on antitrust matters, with a team led by partners Veronica Pinotti , Katarzyna Czapracka, Mark Powell, local partner Martino Sforza and senior associate Tommaso Poli.
Travers Smith assisted Swisscom for the aspects related to English law profiles.
Vodafone’s advisors
Vodafone Group was assisted by the law firms Slaughter and May and Advant Nctm for corporate and M&A aspects, and by Linklaters for antitrust profiles.The Advant Nctm team was composed of partners Vittorio Noseda, Matteo Trapani and Lucia Corradi, with managing associate Chiara Venditti.
