Drake Star Partners Advises Astellia On Its Sale To Exfo

PARIS | March 26, 2018 – Following a public cash tender offer, Exfo (NASDAQ: EXFO) acquired the entire share capital of Astellia (EURONEXT: ALAST). Drake Star Partners acted as the exclusive sell-side advisor to Astellia in this transaction.

Founded in 2000, Astellia is a leading provider of network and subscriber intelligence enabling mobile operators to drive service quality, maximize operational efficiency, reduce churn and develop revenues. Its vendor-independent, real-time monitoring and troubleshooting solution optimizes networks end-to-end, from radio to core.

EXFO and Astellia’s announced on August 31^st, 2017 the acquisition by EXFO of 33.1% of Astellia’s equity from the company’s founders and Isatis Capital. End 2017, EXFO launched a takeover bid which closed in January 2018. The successful two-stage public cash tender offer allowed EXFO to launch a mandatory squeeze-out procedure to acquire all outstanding shares of Astellia at a consideration equal to the offer price of €10 per share.

The transaction will allow Astellia and EXFO to combine their solutions and services to become the leader in network monitoring and analysis by pursuing growth opportunities such as network virtualization, 5G, and the Internet of Things. It enables both companies to strengthen their ability to meet customers’ needs and widen their market coverage.

Abdelkrim Benamar, Managing Director of Astellia, stated “Drake Star Partners’ extensive telecom expertise and deep understanding of our services, allowed Astellia’s shareholders to face the process with confidence. The transaction maximizes industrial value creation and opens a new development phase for the company with improved commercial and technology capabilities worldwide”.

Christophe Morvan, Managing Partner at Drake Star Partners added: “Drake Star Partners is proud to have worked with Astellia on this transaction that confirms the strength of the company’s solutions portfolio and ensures a promising continuation of the business. This transaction illustrates Drake Star Partners’ ability to answer swiftly to its customers’ needs and manage international processes for French listed companies within complex regulatory frameworks”.   

Drake Star Partners team: Christophe Morvan

About Astellia

Astellia is a leading provider of network and subscriber intelligence enabling mobile operators to drive service quality, maximize operational efficiency, reduce churn and develop revenues. Its vendor-independent, real-time monitoring and troubleshooting solution optimizes networks end-to-end, from radio to core. Astellia’s unique blend of products and services provides automated optimization, actionable geolocated insights, and big-data analytics to Network Operations, Service Operations Center, Customer Care and Marketing teams. Astellia has close partnerships with more than 120 telecom operators. Based in France, Astellia has significant operations in Spain and a strong presence in Canada, Lebanon, Morocco, and South Africa.

For more information, please visit  www.astellia.com

Inquiries

For further inquiries, please contact:

Christophe Morvan
Managing Partner | Drake Star Partners France
email: christophe.morvan@drakestar.com | +33 1 70 08 76 10