Deloitte Legal advises Telefónica Tech on the acquisition of BE-terna

The Deloitte Legal team led by Corporate/M&A partner Dr. Michael von Rüden and senior associate Christoph Meves (both Düsseldorf) advised Telefónica Tech, a subsidiary of Telefónica, in Germany and nine other jurisdictions on due diligence and W&I insurance issues related to the acquisition of BE-terna Group, a leading cloud solutions provider and one of the top 5 Microsoft Dynamics partners in Europe.

Telefónica Tech is acquiring the BE-terna Group from its previous owner, Deutsche Private Equity (DPE), and other minority shareholders for a purchase price of up to 350 million euros. In this transaction, Deloitte Legal was in particular responsible for the cross-border advice in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands.

With this acquisition, Telefónica Tech significantly expands its presence in Europe and positions itself as a major provider of tech services and, in particular, as the leading European provider of Microsoft solutions.

The transaction was signed in early May and will be completed in the coming weeks following approval by the antitrust authorities.

In addition to Deloitte Legal, Telefónica Tech was advised by Clifford Chance, who became involved in the transaction through its Spanish office and took over the negotiation of the contractual documentation. Gütt Olk Feldhaus and Poellath advised the sellers. Deloitte was also mandated to perform due diligence in the areas of finance, tax, commercial, IT and compliance.

Deloitte Legal team: Dr. Michael von Rüden, Christoph Meves (both Lead; both Düsseldorf), Alexander Operenyi (all Corporate/M&A; Vienna), Sascha Jung (Commercial/Data Protection), Dr. Stefan Zischka (Employment; both Vienna), Nicolas Wehrli (Zurich), Ivan Zornada (Ljubljana), Maria Lilliestierna (Stockholm), Helle Rasmussen (Aarhus), Mari Wetlesen (Oslo), Horst Heinzl (all Corporate/M&A; Düsseldorf), Dr. Christine von Hauch (Commercial; Cologne), Stefan Weste (Labor Law; Berlin); Associates: Jonas Rahm (Zurich), Uros Rozic (Ljubljana), Stefan Antonic (Belgrade), Jonas Lindskog (Stockholm), Martin Sjoegreen (Aarhus), Lirim Lokaj (Oslo), Thomas Van der Velden (Amsterdam), Anna Reshetina-Korkhova (Berlin), Melanie Fopp (Zurich), Martin Koler, Ana Kastelec (both Ljubljana), Richard Henny (Vienna), Tarja Krehic, Valerija Cerovski (both Zagreb), Srdjan Sijakinjic, Mirjana Mladenovic (all Corporate/M&A; both Belgrade), Leonie Onkelbach (Düsseldorf), Petra Spring (both Employment; Zurich), Juliane Franze (Data Protection; Berlin)

About Telefónica Tech:

Telefónica Tech is part of the Telefónica Group and a leader in digital transformation. The company offers a wide range of services and integrated technological solutions in the fields of cybersecurity, cloud, IoT, big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain. Following the acquisition of BE-terna, Telefónica Tech now employs over 5,400 people. In the first quarter of 2022, Telefónica Tech had revenues of 299 million euros.

About BE-terna:

BE-terna was founded in 2005 and has over 1,000 employees in 28 locations, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Adriatic region and the Nordic countries. As one of the top five Microsoft Dynamics partners in Europe, BE-terna specializes in driving digital transformation primarily based on Microsoft, but also works with Infor, UI Path and Qlik to optimize business processes for various industries. In 2021, the company generated pro forma revenues of 121 million euros.