Linklaters and Allens advise Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board on its NZ$900m acquisition of 70% of Spark New Zealand’s mobile tower business

Linklaters and Allens advised Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’) on its NZ$900m acquisition of 70% of Spark New Zealand’s TowerCo business. This is the first carve-out of telecoms towers in the New Zealand market.

Spark New Zealand is the largest telecommunications and digital services company in the country. As part of the acquisition, Spark New Zealand has entered into a 15-year agreement with TowerCo (plus rights of renewal) to secure access to existing and new towers, with a build commitment of 670 sites over the next 10 years.

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 alongside Gavin Smith, Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications at Allens, Linklaters’ alliance partner in Australia, with support from 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.

Linklaters’ Partner and Asia Head of TMT Adrian Fisher, commented:

“Linklaters has a long-standing reputation for delivering agile, practical and innovative advice to help clients navigate the increasingly connected and digitised 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.”

Allens’ Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications Gavin 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 a number of 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.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory review and is expected to close in late 2022.