Blackstone lands AirTrunk in watershed $24bn deal

Firm describes it as the second-biggest private capital M&A deal ever inked in Australia

Blackstone lands AirTrunk in watershed $24bn deal

King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has helped Blackstone to acquire data centre provider AirTrunk for a whopping $24bn – the  second-biggest private capital M&A deal ever inked in Australia.

“Data centres are one of the most interesting and dynamic sectors in the market and Blackstone’s success shows their conviction in the sector. It was fantastic to support the Blackstone team and also to see the level of bank support to finance the transaction”, said Yuen-Yee Cho (finance), who was among the KWM lawyers leading the team that worked on the deal.

Alex Eiser (M&A), who also helped to lead the transaction team, described the sale process as “highly competitive”.

The KWM team collaborated with Blackstone’s APAC and global legal teams. Gareth Howe (M&A), Dan Flanagan (finance), Tim Sherman (tax) and Victoria Lanyon (tax) led the team alongside Eiser and Cho,

Partners Mandy Tsang (insurance), David Eliakim (M&A), Francesca Giorlando and Felicity Savage (real property), Vishal Ahuja (power), Angela Weber (employment), and Malcolm Brennan (foreign investment) provided expert advice across all aspects of the acquisition, with contributions from their respective teams.

Sellers Macquarie Asset Management and PSP Investments received legal advice from a Baker McKenzie team led by Simon De Young, Eric Thianpiriya, Lewis Apostolou, Michael Kunstler and John Coleman.