Billionaire, Macron’s friend and son-in-law of richest man in world: Who buys lifecell
Mobile operator lifecell is one of the three most popular telecom operators in Ukraine and is currently owned by the Turkish telecom holding Turkcell. However, the Ukrainian subsidiary is going to be sold. BusinessCensor has investigated who will become its new owner.
On April 22, 2024, the Kyiv Court of Appeal cancelled the seizure of 100% of the corporate rights of Ukrtower LLC, and before that, on April 16, it cancelled the seizure of 19.8% of the corporate rights of Lifesell LLC and 100% of the corporate rights of Paysel LLC, which opened the possibility to complete the sale process, but the final decision is still to be adopted by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.
Lifecell LLC, TM PayCell and Ukrtower LLC, which owns the towers of the lifecell mobile operator, belong to the Turkish Turkcell, which it plans to sell to an investor from France.
Until recently, however, there were issues that prevented the deal from being finalized, such as the arrest of lifecell's corporate rights for its ties to the sanctioned Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman. Friedman`s LetterOne company, Aven and Kosogov, owns 19.8% of Turkcell.
Turkcell plans to sell its Ukrainian assets for $525 million. The buyer is the French investment company NJJ Capital of billionaire Xavier Niel.
The same French company also plans to acquire Datagroup-Volia, one of the leaders in the Ukrainian telecommunications industry. In March, the AMCU granted permission to Xavier Niel's French company DVL Telecom to acquire Datagroup-Volia.
After the AMCU's approval of the acquisition of lifecell assets, they will be merged into one group.
Horizon Capital, the investment company that owns Datagroup Volia, will become the partner of the French company.
Who they are selling
In January of this year, French billionaire Xavier Niel said that his investment company NJJ Capital had agreed to pay $500 million for the Ukrainian units of Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS.
At the time, Niel said that his company already has telecommunications operations in Ukraine's neighboring Poland through Iliad, and the high volume of roaming traffic between the countries means that the deal "makes sense." Niel called the price "cheap" compared to lifecell's profits.
The deal, which was announced last December without specifying a price, will give NJJ Capital control of Lifecell LLC, Global Bilgi LLC and Ukrtower LLC.
Who is Xavier Niel?
The future owner of Ukrainian lifecell is the founder and majority shareholder of France's third largest mobile operator Iliad (operating under the Free brand), co-owner of Le Monde newspaper, as well as the owner of Monaco Telecom, the largest telecom provider in Monaco, Swiss telecom provider Salt Mobile and Irish telecom company Eir.
As of April 2024, Niel's fortune was estimated at $10 billion.
Entrepreneurial activity
Niel became a millionaire at the age of 24 after he sold his own company, Worldnet, the first Internet provider in France, for 40 million euros. Before that, having decided not to go to university, Niel worked with the Minitel information system, creating a sex chat on its basis.
In 1998, Niel founded Free, a company that provided access to high-speed Internet, cable TV, and telephone services simultaneously.
While developing Internet services, Niel simultaneously invested in erotic shows and sex shops in Paris and Alsace.
His other investments include the information sites Mediapart and Bakchich, the technology company Ateme, the music service Deezer, and the electronic payment service Square.
In March 2010, Niel co-founded Kima Ventures, a private investment fund that invested in 330 companies in 32 countries between February 2010 and August 2014, whereby Business Insider named Niel one of the world's most active angel investors.
Successful "marriage" and friendship with Macron
Niel is unmarried, but his significant other is a French businesswoman Delphine Arnault, who is a director and executive vice president of Louis Vuitton and chairman and CEO of Dior. Niel and Arnault have two children born in 2012 and 2016.
Delphine Arnault is the daughter of Bernard Arnault, the richest man in the world with a net worth of $215 billion, and it is the Arnault family that owns the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) group, which owns the Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Kenzo, Chaumet, Moët & Chandon, Hennessy, TAG Heuer and other brands.
Thus, Xavier Niel, the future owner of the Ukrainian mobile operator lifecell, can be considered the son-in-law of the richest man in the world.
Delphine Arnault is friends with French First Lady Brigitte Macron, and Niel himself is regularly seen at the Elysee Palace.
