M&A transactions
SMARTS
Sale of regional assets
- Period of completion - 2014 – 2015
- Project’s geography - Russia
SMARTS was the largest independent regional telecommunications operator until 2015 serving about 2 million subscribers. Now SMARTS is an infrastructure company creating telecommunications and IT resources.
By the time PCG was hired, SMARTS had begun to default on several loans to Russian banks. The challenge for PCG was to negotiate with the banks and sell all or part of the company's assets. The divestiture of assets was accompanied by a shareholder dispute that prevented the owners from selling their shares for a long period of time.
In February 2014, PCG was hired as a divestment consultant. The project achieved the following objectives:
- Arranging with creditors to defer payment in order to gain time to sell the assets.
- The transaction with VimpelCom to sell out a number of the company's assets.
- The transaction with MTS to sell out a number of the company's assets.
- The transaction with MegaFon to sell out a number of the company's assets.
- Moderation between the shareholders and owners to reach a settlement agreement.