International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has advised Astrium (Europe’s largest space company) on its $960m acquisition of Vizada, a key provider of fixed and mobile satellite communications.

Previously owned by Apax France, a private equity fund, Vizada has activities across the world, a significant portion of which are in France, the United States and Norway. The acquisition, which will be financed with existing cash by Astrium’s parent company EADS, has been submitted to the relevant authorities for approval. 

The Freshfields team was led by Paris corporate partner Fabrice Cohen with support from counsel Patrick Tardivy. Competition advice was provided by partner Maria Trabucchi, senior associate François Gordon (both Paris) and partner Bob Schlossberg and assoicate Craig Minerva in Washington DC. Also advising on the deal were Freshfields Paris partners Antoine Colonna d’Istria (tax) and Gwen Senlanne (employment), and counsel Marc Lordonnois (regulatory). 

Freshfields worked closely with the legal departments of EADS (Daniel von Wild, Pascal Belmin and Jérôme Nguyen) and Astrium (Sébastien Thierry).