Deal: Morrison & Co and the consortium led by the Future Fund Board of Guardians and including Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation and Sunsuper Superannuation Fund have been advised on the acquisition of a 49 per cent interest in Telstra Corporation’s telecommunications network tower business, InfraCo Towers.

Value: $2.8 billion.

Area: M&A, technology, media and telecommunications.

Key players: A cross-practice team from Allens advised on the deal, led by M&A and funds sector leader Emin Altiparmak and TMT sector lead Gavin Smith.

Supporting the pair from the M&A team were: Tom Story (partner), Joy Yoon (senior associate), Nick Twomey (senior associate), Jon van der Walt (senior associate), Ari Bendet (senior associate), Sassica Hoolahan (associate), Kelsey Montgomery (associate), Kye-Ren Cheong (associate), Jin Pang (lawyer) and Marc Privitelli (law graduate).

From the TMT side: Michael Park (partner), Isabelle Guyot (managing associate), Elyse Adams (managing associate), Alexandra Martin (senior overseas practitioner), Jamie Griffin (senior associate), James Daniel (associate), Haddon Chang (associate), Yueh-Shin Chen (lawyer), Dominic Keenan (lawyer) and Beata Szabo (lawyer).

From the real estate team: Victoria Holthouse (partner) and Tom Wilson (overseas practitioner).

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From the environment and planning practice: Naomi Bergman (partner), Philippa Lennon (associate), Louise Flynn (lawyer), Lauren Rosillo (lawyer), Eden Sweeney (lawyer) and Paddy O'Brien (law graduate).

From the banking and finance team: Tim Stewart (partner), Maria Ryan (senior overseas practitioner), Shehan Canagasingham (associate) and Alexander Whitman (lawyer).

From the funds, super and wealth side: Penny Nikoloudis (partner), Sean Cole (partner), Jo Ottaway (financial services counsel), Mai Go (senior associate), Justine Gainsford (associate) and Joshua Gunn (lawyer).

From the employment team: Sikeli Ratu (partner) and Courtney Logue (lawyer).

From the intellectual property team: Joel Barrett (partner) and Jess McKenna (lawyer).

And from the competition, consumer and regulatory side: Fiona Crosbie (chair), Ted Hill (partner), William Georgiou (associate) and Roy Chowdhury (associate).

Deal significance: InfraCo Towers owns and operates approximately 8,200 tower assets, including over 5,500 mobile towers throughout Australia.

“The transaction underscores the strong interest of long-term investors in digital infrastructure assets,” said Allens co-lead partner and funds sector leader, Mr Altiparmak.

“InfraCo Towers represents a first-class investment opportunity as the supporting infrastructure for Australia’s mobile telecommunications network. Through the pandemic, digital infrastructure assets have only increased in attractiveness for long-term investors. We are pleased to be able to help deliver this high-profile transaction for Morrison & Co and the consortium”.

Co-lead partner and TMT practice and sector leader Mr Smith added: “Telecommunications towers transactions only happen relatively rarely given the long-term nature of the underlying access arrangements.

“InfraCo Towers is by far the largest portfolio of towers in Australia. The continued growth in mobile and fixed wireless data usage and the current rollout of 5G networks underlines the importance and appeal of this asset class. We are delighted to be able to work with Morrison & Co and the consortium members on what is a fascinating and complex transaction.”