Ropes & Gray Advises on £5.7 Billion-Equivalent Financing for Virgin Media and O2

Ropes & Gray has advised Virgin Media and O2 on the £5.7 billion-equivalent, bond and loan secured financing in connection with the previously announced joint venture combination of O2 and Virgin Media by Liberty Global and Telefonica.

Proceeds from the financing package, which has priced this week, will be used for general corporate purposes, including distributions on closing of the £31.4 billion joint venture. The closing of the joint venture is subject to regulatory approval.

The Ropes & Gray team which advised on the loan financing aspects of the deal was led by finance partner Alex Robb, with finance associates Jacob Bennett and Hoey Lee and trainee Charles Voisey, all based in London. The team which advised on the bond side of the deal was led by finance partner Rob Haak, with finance associates Greig Lamont, Clara Melly, Shabdita Gupta and Ashish Alexander – again, all based in London.

In May this year, Ropes & Gray – again led by finance partners Rob Haak and Alex Robb – advised Liberty Global on the financing aspects of its 50-50 joint venture agreement with Telefonica in connection with a merger of its UK operations O2 with Virgin Media, to create the UK’s leading fixed-mobile provider. The transaction is expected to close around the middle of 2021 and is subject to regulatory approvals, consummation of the recapitalizations, and other customary closing conditions.