Cleary Gottlieb represents Dhabi Group

Cleary Gottlieb is representing Dhabi Group, led by His Highness Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, owner of Warid Telecom Pakistan LLC (“WTPL”), in the merger of WTPL’s subsidiary Warid Telecom (Private) Limited (“Warid”) with Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited (“Mobilink”). Mobilink is owned by VimpelCom. The transaction, which was announced on November 26, 2015, is the first merger in the mobile telecommunications sector in Pakistan.

Mobilink and Warid are, respectively, the largest and fifth largest mobile operators in Pakistan by market share. The transaction is expected to create synergies with a net present value of approximately US$500 million. The combined revenue of both companies for the twelve months to September 2015 was US$1.4 billion. The combined business will serve over 45 million customers.

As part of the transaction, Mobilink will acquire 100% of Warid’s shares from WTPL and Bank Alfalah Limited in consideration for approximately 15% of the shares of Mobilink. The transaction is subject to complex regulatory approvals and is expected to close in 2016. In a second stage of the deal, it is expected that the businesses of Warid and Mobilink will be merged to form one combined entity.

WTPL and Dhabi Group are part of the Abu Dhabi Group, a leading business group in the United Arab Emirates and the largest FDI in Pakistan, led by His Highness Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, a senior member of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family and the UAE Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development.

The Cleary Gottlieb M&A team was led by partner Tihir Sarkar in London and counsel Chris Macbeth in Abu Dhabi, with associates Chris Gollop, Tom Lawless and Mohamed Taha, and senior attorney Jim Corsiglia. Partner Richard Sultman advised on tax, and partner David Billington and associate Ian Chin advised on financing matters.