Linklaters has advised Macquarie Specialised and Asset Finance, part of Macquarie Group’s Commodities and Global Markets business, on its agreement with Iberdrola for the purchase of its UK smart meters business, SP Smart Meter Assets Limited for approximately £900 million (approximately €1,060 million or $A1,850 million).
Upon completion of the sale, Macquarie will enter a long-term meter rental agreement to provide smart meter asset provider (“MAP”) services to ScottishPower and support the business in the further rollout of smart meters across Great Britain.
Macquarie is currently one of the largest independent MAPs in the United Kingdom. Established in 2003, its meters business currently manages over 10 million meters in total, including over 7.5 million smart meters and 2.5 million traditional meters across Great Britain. The acquisition will add around 2.7 million meters to Macquarie’s portfolio, meaning it will manage over 13 million meters nationwide. It has already provided over £1.5 billion of funding to assist with Great Britain’s smart meter rollout.
The multi-practice Linklaters team was led by Corporate M&A Partner
Nicole Meyer, together with TMT Partner
Rich Jones, Antitrust & Foreign Investment Partner
Bruce Kilpatrick and Tax Partner
Sam Lintonbon.
The core team also included Employment Counsel
Julie Sharp, Pensions Partner
Alasdair Smith, IP Partner
Yohan Liyanage, Tax Partner
Alexei Franks, Tax Associate
Alicia Vidal, Energy & Infrastructure Partner
Nick Szmigin and Managing Associate
Chuan Hong Foo, Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations Partner
Andrew Poulton, TMT Managing Associates
Dianne Devlin and
Silvia Curin-Brown and Associates
Matt Creagh and
Milan Banjac-Reid, Antitrust & Foreign Investment Managing Associate
Judy Zhao and Corporate Managing Associate
Eleanor Keighley Elstub and Associate
Tom Davies.
This transaction builds on Linklaters’ long relationship with Macquarie, with Linklaters recently advising Macquarie Asset Management on its
acquisition of Renewi plc, the
sale of its interests in the East Anglia One offshore wind farm and its
acquisition of a 50% stake in Last Mile Infrastructure Group.
The transaction is subject to customary adjustments and regulatory clearance and is expected to complete in Q3 2025.