Simpson Thacher represented the lenders in connection with the unitranche financing of Waterland’s acquisition of the Lebara Group. The acquisition closed on November 6, 2024.
The Lebara Group is a leading mobile virtual network operator providing telecommunications services to over four million customers across the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, France and Denmark, and operating brand license agreements in a further five markets around the world. It is recognized as a leading challenger brand in its European mobile telecommunications markets, providing customers with a value alternative to the established category players.
Waterland is a European private equity firm focused on investments in the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Ireland, France, Spain and Poland, with deep local knowledge and extensive networks across these regions. Waterland supports companies with an accelerated growth strategy and hands-on support from a team of more than 130 investment professions in the 11 countries in which it operates, aiming for market leadership through a local or international buy-and-build strategy. Since 1999, Waterland has raised over €14 billion in commitments, and its buy-and-build strategies have resulted in investments in more than 1000 companies in over 150 sectors across Europe.
The Simpson Thacher team included Hadrien Servais, Jacob Durkin, Eline Souffriau, Brian Bodensteiner and Kwasi Mills-Bampoe (Credit); and Caleb McConnell, Oliver Rosshandler and Daniel Griffiths (Tax).