A French billionaire will pay $500M for a Ukrainian mobile operator.

The French investment company NJJ Capital agreed to pay $500M for the Ukrainian carrier Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS. Turkcell announced the sale of its Ukrainian business, including Lifecell, at the end of 2023. The contract with NJJ Capital was signed on December 29.

French billionaire Xavier Niel’s telecommunications businesses are already operating in Poland through telecom company Iliad, and the high volume of roaming traffic between the countries means the deal “makes sense,” Niel said.

He said the price was “cheap” compared to the profits generated by Ukrainian telecommunications operator Lifecell. The deal, which was initially announced in December without specifying a value, is awaiting regulatory review, including clearance from Ukraine’s antitrust authority, the French billionaire said.