COBALT advised East Capital Explorer upon acquisition of majority stake in leading Estonian communication services provider Starman

COBALT advised NASDAQ-listed East Capital Explorer AB upon acquisition of majority (51%) stake in Starman, the leading cable TV, broadband internet and voice cable services provider in Estonia.

East Capital Explorer AB will invest approximately EUR 24m to acquire 51% of the company based on a total enterprise value of EUR 107m, and the remaining stake of 49% will be held by Starman’s founders, Peeter Kern and Indrek Kuivallik. The transaction is subject to approval from the Estonian competition authorities, and is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2013.

COBALT is proud to have been the legal adviser of this so far year’s largest and one of most important M&A transactions in the region. COBALT team advised on all legal aspects of the transaction including carrying out confirmative legal due diligence of the Starman group and drafting and negotiating all transaction documents, including the acquisition agreement with the Seller, Xalto CDO II B.V. and financing and security documents with the financing banks, SEB and Swedbank. COBALT Estonia is also assisting East Capital Explorer AB with preparation of the merger filing relating to the transaction.

The COBALT team was led by partner Marina Tolmatshova. The preparation of the merger filing was coordinated by associate partner Elo Tamm