Arnold Bloch Leibler helps property giant take stake in critical telco infrastructure for $700m

Arnold Bloch Leibler (ABL) has helped longstanding client Charter Hall, which has made a significant investment in critical telecommunications infrastructure.

A Charter Hall-managed partnership has taken a 49% stake in a newly created trust established by Telstra for $700m. The deal values the unlisted trust that holds 37 of Telstra’s major communication exchanges at $1.43bn.

Telstra will still have operating control of the exchanges and keep the majority stake in the trust that holds the assets. The transaction is part of the telecom giant’s move to monetise up to $2bn of its assets.

ABL’s team was headed by property and development partners Tyrone McCarthy and Gia Cari. The cross-practice team also included lawyers Rob Deev and Emma MacPhee (property), partner Genevieve Sexton (banking and finance), and special counsel Zoe Chung and senior associate Mark Macrae (stamp duty and Foreign Investment Review Board).

McCarthy said that ABL looks forward to supporting the Charter Hall team again in the future. He and Cari also led the team that advised recently on Charter Hall’s acquisition of all the units in the trust that owns the Telstra-tenanted, A-grade building at 242 Exhibition Street in Melbourne for $830m.

That team also included Sexton, Macrae, and MacPhee, as well as partner Jonathan Wenig and special counsel Damien Cuddihy.