Media and Telecoms
The Telecoms and Media sectors have been undergoing a period of transformation and diversification in recent years, with significant technology developments, product consolidation and new market entrants underpinning this, meaning that industry players need to adapt and develop traditional business models to thrive.
Our team of multi-disciplinary lawyers are at the heart of that – advising on major acquisitions and disposals, complex and transformational partnerships and business critical development projects across the globe.
Our Telecoms practice operates across the sector, including experience relating to network set-up and sharing, connectivity and fibre arrangements, spectrum acquisition, physical and virtual data centres, tower infrastructure, MVNO arrangements, smart technology and various related servicing and outsourcing arrangements.
In the Media sector, we support clients across television, radio, film, print and digital publishing and news, social media, music publishing and the associated technologies that drive them. Our team is well placed to help the industry react to, and take advantage of, fast-paced developments in distribution channels and related opportunities.
- Our Telecoms and Media teams are led by a group of partners across our core practice areas, drawing on expertise from our corporate, commercial, technology, intellectual property, financing, data privacy, regulatory and dispute resolution teams to provide complete and consistent legal advice across our clients’ projects.
- We believe our industry knowledge and focus set us apart. Our lawyers are at their best when we are working with our clients to fully understand the commercial and technical basis for their projects, ultimately allowing us to provide the highest quality of legal advice and support.
- Our clients count on us to lead and co-ordinate their Telecoms and Media transactions and projects across the world, often on projects spanning many countries.
Key experience
Our key experience includes advising:
Vodafone UK in connection with its UK network-sharing arrangements with O2, the latest of which provided for sharing of 5G active equipment on joint network sites and greater 5G network autonomy in 23 of the UK's larger cities. Our ability to engage with detailed technical aspects of these arrangements was crucial to their successful completion
Disney on its involvement in the takeover battle for Sky. We advised on complex areas including Disney’s mandatory offer for Sky and the successful defence of appeals relating to the mandatory offer price, the proposed divestment of Sky News to Disney and the Takeover Panel-administered auction between Fox and Comcast.
Vodafone Group on various major M&A projects, including its €18.4 billion acquisition of Liberty Global’s operations in Germany, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic. This transaction highlighted our ability to lead and co-ordinate significant and high profile transactions across multiple jurisdictions, as well as our expertise in navigating a complex European Commission clearance process.
Equinix on various data centre transactions, including its transformational expansion in Europe through the £2.35 billion acquisition of Telecity Group and the related separation, ring-fencing and divestment of a number of data centres required to secure European Commission approval.
Bloomsbury Publishing plc on a joint venture with China Youth Publishing Group, a state-owned publisher. This was Bloomsbury’s first entry into the domestic Chinese market and highlighted our ability to support clients worldwide in their ambitious expansion and development plans.
