9 July 2009 - Gide Loyrette Nouel, legal counsel to the Government of Mali on the privatisation of Sotelma:

Gide Loyrette Nouel is advising the Government of the Republic of Mali on the privatisation of Sotelma, the state-owned Malian telecoms operator. This transaction involves selling a 51% stake in Sotelma to Maroc Telecom, the leading Moroccan telecoms company, for EUR 275 million, thus valuing Sotelma at approximately EUR 540 million.

This is the largest ever privatisation to take place in Mali and one of the major financial transactions carried out in West Africa.

Legal counsel to the Government of Mali:
Gide Loyrette Nouel - The team was led by Olivier Cousi, assisted by Léonard Vielle for telecoms aspects, Thomas Urlacher and Alexis Pailleret for corporate issues.