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Consortium advised on $3.7bn acquisition of Uniti Group
Allens has advised a consortium comprising Morrison & Co, Brookfield Asset Management, and Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation on the $3.7 billion acquisition of Uniti Group.
Jess Feyder
Firm: Allens (Morrison & Co; Brookfield Asset Management; Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation); Clayton Utz (Uniti Group).
Value: $3.7 billion
Area: Corporate
Key players: The Allens merger and acquisition team was led by partner Tom Story and supported by partner Emin Altiparmak and senior associates Joy Yoon, Tom Hall, and Sassica Hoolahan, along with associates Krish Nadarajah, Adam Silver and Alisha D’Souza, and lawyer Olivia Seymour.
The deal was executed with support from Allens’ telecommunications, media and technology team and its teams in real estate, banking and finance, employment, intellectual property, competition, consumer and regulatory, and court process.
The Clayton Utz team was led by national practice group leader for corporate and M&A, Rory Moriarty.
Deal significance: Uniti Group Limited is the second-largest fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) provider in Australia.
The company owns fibre broadband builders OptiComm and LBNCo and Telstra’s former FTTP business, Velocity.
“We are delighted to have supported the consortium on this significant acquisition. This is a remarkable transaction in the telecommunications sector and we look forward to seeing the business continue to support Australian connectivity,” said Mr Story.
“This acquisition demonstrates the value long-term investors see in telecommunications fibre networks, underpinned by the ever increasing reliance by households on high-speed broadband services and the growth in data transit volumes,” said Gavin Smith, head of the Allens telecommunications, media and technology practice.
“Uniti Group has grown quickly to become a key player in the telecommunications market and we are proud to have worked on this transaction,” said Mr Smith.
“The Uniti board is unanimous in its view that this transaction is in the best interests of Uniti shareholders,” Uniti independent non-executive chair Graeme Barclay said.
“We believe this transaction is a very good outcome for Uniti’s shareholders, and for stakeholders more broadly, including our customers, executives, employees and suppliers.”
