Xavier Nielʼs NJJ Holding, the founder of the European telecommunications group iliad, bought the provider of fixed communication and pay TV Datagroup-Volia and the mobile operator lifecell.
This is stated in the press release of the American private investment company Horizon Capital.
NJJ and Horizon Capital will combine Datagroup-Volia and lifecell to create and develop a telecommunications platform. The next stage is a $435 million financial package from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Mykhailo Shelemba, the current general director of Datagroup-Volia, will head the combined platform of Datagroup-Volia-Lifecell.
"This historic deal is the first significant investment by a new market participant and strategic investor since the full-scale invasion, which supports the development and modernization of Ukraineʼs telecommunications infrastructure," the release emphasized.
The combined company is expected to provide mobile services to more than 10 million Ukrainians, and its fixed network will cover more than 4 million households across the country. Users will be offered a triple package of services, which will include mobile and fixed communications and pay TV.
What preceded this
On October 7, 2023, the court seized all corporate rights in Ukraine belonging to sanctioned Russian businessmen Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and Andrei Kosogov. Among the assets seized by the court were, in particular, lifecell and other assets of the Turkish Turkcell — the payment service Paycell and UkrTower. Within a week, the court corrected the decision and reduced the seized share of lifecell from 100% to 19.8%.
On December 29, 2023, Turkcell announced that it was selling the lifecell mobile operator, the Global Bilgi call center network and the UkrTower mobile tower operator to the French company NJJ Capital of billionaire Xavier Niel. At the end of January, Niel said that his company is ready to buy lifecell for $500 million. However, in March 2024, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine did not allow the acquisition of control over the lifecell group.
Already in April, the Court of Appeal lifted the seizure of 19.8% of lifecellʼs shares — this opened the way for the sale of the company. And in July, the Antimonopoly Committee did allow the French billionaire to buy the lifecell operator.