Global law firm Freshfields has advised Cinven, KKR and Providence, sponsors of Lorca JVCo Limited ("Lorca"), an entity that indirectly holds 50% of MasOrange, S.L. ("MasOrange"), in a binding sale agreement for Orange to acquire, through its wholly owned subsidiary Atlas Services Belgium, the entirety of Lorca's indirect stake in MasOrange.  Under the terms of the agreement, Lorca will receive total cash proceeds of €4.25 billion.

The transaction represents a significant milestone for Spain's telecommunications operator with the highest number of customers. In 2020, Cinven, KKR and Providence partnered with local management and shareholders to facilitate the €5.3bn takeover bid for MásMóvil. MasOrange was formed in 2024, in the context of the combination of the telecommunications and accessories businesses of MásMóvil and Orange in Spain.

At the time of the takeover bid, MásMóvil was the fourth largest operator in the Spanish telecommunications market. Under the consortium's ownership, MasOrange has become the telecommunications operator with the highest number of customers in Spain, exceeding 33 million lines. Throughout the sponsors' investment period, MásMóvil has completed more than ten network transactions and seven acquisitions, including the transformative takeover bid for Euskaltel in 2021 and the aforementioned combination of Orange's telecommunications and ancillary businesses in Spain. Earlier this year, MasOrange also created one of Europe's largest independent fibre networks by merging its network assets with those of Vodafone Spain.

Freshfields team involved on this transaction:

The transaction was led by the M&A team in Madrid, comprising partner Armando Albarrán, together with senior associate Mario Pacini, associate Alberto Broseta and trainees Xabier León and Javier Martínez-Sapiña. Partners Álvaro Iza and Thomas Wessely (Brussels), and associate Guillermo García-Ovies provided competition advice. Partner Bosco Montejo and senior associate Javier Sánchez advised on tax law issues. Finally, Ignacio Borrego and Pilar Aguilar, of counsel and associate, advised on the Spanish regulatory aspects of this transaction.