Linklaters and Allens advised Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan on buying Spark NZ mobile tower business

Linklaters and Allens advised Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan on buying Spark NZ mobile tower business

It is the first carve-out of telecoms towers in the New Zealand market

International law firms Linklaters and Allens have advised Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board on its NZ$900m acquisition of 70 percent of Spark New Zealand Limited's mobile tower business.

Spark is the largest telecommunications and digital services company in the country. As part of the acquisition, it has entered into a 15-year agreement with TowerCo (plus rights of renewal) to secure access to existing and new towers, with a building commitment of 670 sites over the next decade.

The joint Linklaters and Allens team worked alongside Chapman Tripp in New Zealand.

The team was led by Linklaters' Asia Head of TMT Adrian Fisher along with Gavin Smith, Head of Technology, Media, and Telecommunications at Allens, They were supported by Linklaters' managing associate Ian Ong and Allens' senior overseas practitioner David Liao.

The team also leveraged expertise from Linklaters' extensive global network, including expert support from TMT partner Julian Cunningham-Day and TMT Counsel Rich Jones.

Fisher commented, "Linklaters has a long-standing reputation for delivering agile, practical, and innovative advice to help clients navigate the increasingly connected and digitized telecoms industry. We have worked on many landmark TMT M&A transactions across Asia, where our integrated advice is essential.

"This transaction involved close collaboration between our Singapore, London and Allens teams, together with Chapman Tripp in New Zealand. We are delighted to have supported Ontario Teachers' on this strategic investment and our team looks forward to continuing to work closely with them to achieve their investment goals."

Smith, added, "Allens is pleased to have worked with our alliance partner Linklaters to deliver for Ontario Teachers' on this significant investment in Spark New Zealand. This is the latest in several complex digital infrastructure transactions in the Asia Pacific market. We are delighted to have assisted Ontario Teachers' on a deal which will support Spark New Zealand's growth over the long term."