Slaughter and May advised Vodafone on servicing agreements in connection with its creation of the largest telecoms operator in India

Slaughter and May advised Vodafone on two strategically important servicing agreements in connection with the complementary combination of Vodafone’s subsidiary, Vodafone India, with Idea Cellular to create India’s largest telecoms operator. The combined company will be controlled by Vodafone and the Aditya Birla Group.

The servicing agreements, one of which is between Vodafone and the combined company, and the other between the Aditya Birla Group and the combined company, will enable the Vodafone India and Idea Cellular businesses to continue to operate on substantially the same basis as prior to completion when part of the combined company.

The combined telecoms operator will be the leading communications provider in India with almost 400 million customers, 35% customer market share and 41% revenue market share.