This past June, KT entered into an agreement to form a joint venture with the government of the Republic of Rwanda under a public private partnership model; that is a business model that creates synergy by combining the tangible/ intangible assets of a government, such as commercial rights or network infrastructure, with the tangible/ intangible assets such as capital or project implementation capabilities that a company provides.  The newly established joint venture was granted a 25-year exclusive right to use frequency and is planning to engage in the construction and management of LTE networks.

In addition, KT has also executed an agreement with the government of Rwanda to establish a joint venture to provide system integration and information technology services this past September.

Kim & Chang provided comprehensive legal services in connection with the transaction, including review of the deal structure, assessment of the local regulations, legal due diligence, preparation of relevant agreements including the shareholders agreement, negotiations with the Rwanda government, global merger filing, and preparation for closing.

This transaction is meaningful in that it is the first public private partnership model joint venture between a Korean telecommunications company and a foreign government.