International law firm Simmons & Simmons has advised global investor and asset manager L&G on its agreement to acquire a majority stake in Blue, a leading French sovereign local cloud operator, from Quilvest Capital Partners and other shareholders.
The transaction is being executed through the L&G Digital Infrastructure Fund (LDIF) and is subject to regulatory and foreign investment control approvals.
Founded in 2005, Blue operates its own infrastructure and two data centres in Rennes and Nantes, providing an integrated end-to-end offering across private networks, unified communications, sovereign cloud, desktop management and cybersecurity.
The acquisition forms part of L&G's ongoing Private Markets growth strategy, and reflects its commitment to expanding further into global markets as the first continental European acquisition for LDIF.
The deal underlines Simmons & Simmons' focus on supporting asset managers on complex cross-border investments in digital infrastructure, combining market-leading transactional capability with deep sector expertise across Europe.
The cross-border Simmons & Simmons team advising L&G was led by UK Corporate Partner Raghav Ghai and French Corporate Partners Arnaud Félix and Isabelle Meyrier with support from Partners Ombline Ancelin (Antitrust and FDI, Paris), Waltter Kulvik (Digital Infrastructure, London) and Mary Serhal (Banking and Finance, Paris).
Commenting on the transaction, Raghav Ghai said: "This investment is a strong example of how international capital can support the next phase of growth for critical digital infrastructure platforms in Europe. We are pleased to have brought together our cross-border team and digital infrastructure expertise to support L&G and LDIF on this milestone acquisition."
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