Digital Infrastructure Deal of the Year - LATAM

Phoenix Tower International  

The acquisition by BlackRock and Grain Management of a minority stake in Phoenix Tower International from Blackstone for an estimated US$1.3bn.  

Financial Advisers: Morgan Stanley, Moelis & Co (Sell Side)  

Legal Advisers: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (Sell Side); A&O Shearman (Buy Side)   

MXT Holding and Centennial Towers  

The acquisition by Ardian Infrastructure of a co-control stake in MXT Holdings from shareholders and simultaneous acquisition of Centennial Towers’ Mexico tower operations from Madison Dearborn Partners.  

Financial Advisers (Ardian/MXT): BTG Pactual, BBVA (Sell Side); Rothschild (Buy Side)  

Financial Advisers (MXT/Centennial): Guggenheim Securities (Sell Side); BTG Pactual (Buy Side)  

Legal Advisers (Ardian/MXT): Greenberg Traurig (Sell Side); Gibson Dunn, Galicia Abogados (Buy Side)  

Legal Advisers (MXT/Centennial): Kirkland & Ellis (Sell Side); Gibson Dunn, Greenberg Traurig (Buy Side)

Millicom Colombia towers  

The acquisition by KKR, in partnership with NEXO LatAm, of approximately 1,100 wireless communications towers from Millicom subsidiary Tigo Colombia.  

Financial Advisers: Scotiabank (Buy Side)  

Legal Advisers: Posse Herrera Ruiz (Sell Side); Gómez-Pinzón; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (Buy Side)
 

Liberty Latin America towers  

The sale-and-leaseback by Phoenix Tower International of c. 1,300 mobiles tower sites across Puerto Rico, the British Virgin Islands, Barbados, The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Panama from Liberty Latin America in a deal worth US$407m.

Financial Advisers: PJT Partners (Sell Side); Mizuho Securities (Buy Side)  

Legal Advisers: Baker Botts (Sell Side); Choate Hall & Stewart (Buy Side)  

Fibra Entel  

The acquisition by KKR’s ON*NET of Fibra Entel fibre network in Chile for US$432m.

Financial Advisers: BNP Paribas (Sell Side); Santander, Scotiabank (Buy Side)

Legal Advisers: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, CMS, Guerrero Olivos (Buy Side)

Digicel  

The restructuring of Digicel Group, a provider of LTE and fibre networks in the Caribbean and Central America.  

Financial Advisers: Debtor: DC Advisory, AlixPartners, Island Capital; Creditors: Greenhill, Evercore  

Legal Advisers: Debtor: Davis Polk & Wardwell; Creditors: Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Akin Gump, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, Paul Hastings

Fiber Deal of the Year

Unite Private Networks  

The acquisition by Cox Communications of a controlling stake in Unite Private Networks from Ridgemont Equity Partners.  

Financial Advisers: Bank Street (Sell Side); Evercore (Buy Side)

Legal Advisers: Alston & Bird, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, Dentons (Sell Side); Eversheds Sutherland (Buy Side)

Tillman FiberCo

The investment by Northleaf Capital Partners in Tillman FiberCo for an initial US$250m, with the potential to invest up to US$250m more.

Financial Advisers: TAP Advisors (Sell Side); TD Securities (Buy Side)

Legal Advisers: Sullivan & Cromwell (Sell Side); Kirkland & Ellis (Buy Side)

Horizon Telcom

The acquisition by Shenandoah Telecommunications (Shentel) of Horizon Telcom from GCM Grosvenor and Novacap for US$385m.

Financial Advisers: Bank Street, Houlihan Lokey (Sell Side); Rothschild (Buy Side)

Legal Advisers: Baker Botts, Greenberg Traurig (Sell Side); Hunton Andrews Kurth (Buy Side)

DQE Communications  

The acquisition by GI Partners of DQE Communications from Duquesne Light Holdings for an undisclosed amount.

Financial Advisers: JPMorgan (Sell Side); TD Securities (Buy Side)

Legal Advisers: Taft Stettinius & Hollister, Morgan Lewis & Bockius (Sell Side); Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (Buy Side)

Blue Stream Fiber

The acquisition by Sixth Street of a minority stake in Blue Stream Fiber from GI Partners.

Financial Advisers: Lazard (Sell Side); Guggenheim Securities (Buy Side)

Legal Advisers: Ropes & Gray (Sell Side); Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (Buy Side)

All West Communications  

The acquisition by Novacap of All West Communications for US$300m.  

Financial Advisers: Stifel (Sell Side); Bank Street (Buy Side)

Legal Advisers: Blackburn & Stoll (Sell Side); Paul Hastings, Baker Botts (Buy Side)

Data Center Deal of the Year

Serverfarm 

The acquisition by Manulife Investment Management of a majority stake in Serverfarm from Poalim Equity and Founder and CEO Avner Papouchado. 

Financial Advisers: Citi, TD Securities (Sell Side); TAP Advisors (Buy Side) 

Legal Advisers: Dentons, Alston & Bird (Sell Side); Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison (Buy Side) 

Digital Realty and Blackstone data center joint venture 

The establishment of a joint venture by Digital Realty and Blackstone to develop four hyperscale data center campuses with a total estimated development cost of approximately US$7bn over the course of the next several years.

Legal Advisers: Latham & Watkins (Sell Side); Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (Buy Side) 

Cyxtera Technologies

The acquisition by Brookfield Infrastructure of substantially all of Cyxtera Technologies’ assets from CEO Nelson Fonseca, Medina Capital, Starboard Value (12.5%), BCEC-SIS Holdings (BC Partners), Lumen Technologies, and SVAC Sponsor for US$775m. 

Financial Advisers: Citi, Morgan Stanley, Guggenheim Securities, Evercore (Sell Side); Moelis & Co, Wells Fargo, TD Securities (Buy Side); AlixPartners (Restructuring Advisor)

Legal Advisers: Kirkland & Ellis, Weil Gotshal & Manges, (Sell Side); Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, McCarthy Tetrault (Buy Side)

Cumulus data center

The acquisition by Amazon Web Services of a 960MW Cumulus data center campus from Talen Energy Corporation for US$650m. 

Financial Advisers: DH Capital (Sell Side) 

Compass Datacenters

The acquisition by Brookfield Infrastructure and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan of a majority stake in Compass Datacenters from RedBird Capital Partners and Azrieli Group for an estimated US$5.5bn.

Financial Advisers: Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Securities (Sell Side); BMO Capital Markets, Scotiabank, TD Securities (Buy Side)

Legal Advisers: Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, Wick Phillips, DLA Piper (Sell Side); Kirkland & Ellis, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, McCarthy Tetrault (Buy Side)

Allied REIT data center assets 

The acquisition by KDDI Corp of three Toronto data center assets from Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust for CAD1.35bn (US$1.02bn).

Financial Advisers: Scotiabank, CBRE (Sell Side); Bank of America (Buy Side)

Legal Advisers: Aird & Berlis (Sell Side); Borden Ladner Gervais, Nishimura & Asahi (Buy Side) 

Towers Deal of the Year

Tillman Infrastructure 

The securing of a financing package totalling US$1bn for Tillman Infrastructure, which comprised a financing of US$500m from affiliates and managed funds of HPS Investment Partners, Apollo, and Oak Hill Advisors. 

Led by: JPMorgan Chase Bank

Financing lenders: Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Banco Santander, CoBank ACB, MUFG Bank and SMBC. 

Legal Advisers: Sullivan & Cromwell, Ropes & Gray (Sell Side) 

Shenandoah Telecommunications (Shentel) tower assets 

The acquisition by Vertical Bridge of a portfolio of telecom towers from Shenandoah Telecommunications (Shentel) for US$310m. 

Financial Advisers: Rothschild (Sell Side); Truist Securities (Buy Side) 

Legal Advisers: Lape Mansfield Nakasian & Gibson (Sell Side); Greenberg Traurig (Buy Side) 

Radius Global 

The acquisition by EQT and Public Sector Pension Investment Board of Radius Global Infrastructure for approximately US$3bn.

Financial Advisers: Citi, Goldman Sachs, Barclays (Sell Side); Morgan Stanley, Evercore (Buy Side) 

Legal Advisers: Cravath Swaine & Moore, Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnel (Sell Side); Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Weil Gotshal & Manges (Buy Side) 

Phoenix Tower International 

The acquisition by BlackRock and Grain Management of a minority stake in Phoenix Tower International from Blackstone for an estimated US$1.3bn.  

Financial Advisers: Morgan Stanley, Moelis & Co (Sell Side)  

Legal Advisers: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (Sell Side); A&O Shearman (Buy Side) 
 

MXT Holding and Centennial Towers 

The acquisition by Ardian Infrastructure of a co-control stake in MXT Holdings from shareholders and simultaneous acquisition of Centennial Towers’ Mexico tower operations from Madison Dearborn Partners. 

Financial Advisers (Ardian/MXT): BTG Pactual, BBVA (Sell Side); Rothschild (Buy Side) 

Financial Advisers (MXT/Centennial): Guggenheim Securities (Sell Side); BTG Pactual (Buy Side) 

Legal Advisers (Ardian/MXT): Greenberg Traurig (Sell Side); Gibson Dunn, Galicia Abogados (Buy Side) 

Legal Advisers (MXT/Centennial): Kirkland & Ellis (Sell Side); Gibson Dunn, Greenberg Traurig (Buy Side) 

Charter Communications tower assets 

The acquisition by Everest Infrastructure Partners and TowerCo of 546 wireless towers from Charter Communications. 

Financial Advisers: Houlihan Lokey (Sell Side)

Legal Advisers: Thompson Hine (Buy Side)

Digital Infrastructure Financing Deal of the Year

Conterra Networks

The completion of a debt capital raise totalling US$580m to refinance existing credit facilities, optimise Conterra's capital structure, and provide additional capacity to support growth.

Banks and Lenders: DC Advisory (Financial Advisor and Placement Agent), TD Securities (Financial Advisor and Placement Agent), CIBC, National Bank of Canada, NordLB, SMBC, Export Development Canada, MetLife Investment Management, IFM and Nomura

Legal Advisers: Latham & Watkins, White & Case

EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure

The project financing by Partners Group-backed EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure for US$1.9bn to fund development of its datacentre campus in Meza, Arizona.  

Banks and Lenders: MUFG (Coordinating Lead Arranger, Joint Bookrunner and Administrative Agent), TD Securities, ING Capital, Scotiabank and Santander

Legal Advisers: Davis Polk & Wardwell, Milbank

IPI Partners – Project Triangle  

Project Triangle represents three jointly underwritten and marketed datacentre financing transactions with a collective deal value of approximately US$2.1bn for IPI Partners-backed STACK Infrastructure.

Banks and Lenders: SMBC (Structuring Bank and Green Loan Coordinator, Joint Lead Arranger, Joint Bookrunner), Natixis (Joint Lead Arranger and Joint Bookrunner), Citigroup (Joint Lead Arranger and Joint Bookrunner) and MUFG (Joint Lead Arranger and Joint Bookrunner)

Legal Advisers: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Paul Hastings

TierPoint  

The completion of an US$1.06bn asset-backed securities (ABS) issuance to support TierPoint’s growth and development.  

Banks and Lenders: Guggenheim Securities (Sole Structuring Advisor and Joint Active Bookrunning Manager), Barclays Capital (Joint Active Bookrunning Manager), TD Securities (USA) (Joint Active Bookrunning Manager), ING Financial Markets (Passive Bookrunning Manager and Green Bond Agent), RBC Capital Markets (Passive Bookrunning Manager), Citigroup (Co-Manager), Fifth Third Securities (Co-Manager), Goldman Sachs (Co-Manager) and JPMorgan (Co-Manager)

Legal Advisers: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Latham & Watkins

Tillman Infrastructure  

The completion of a financing package totalling US$1bn for Tillman Global Holding’s Tillman Infrastructure to refinance existing loans and provide additional growth capital.  

Banks and Lenders: JPMorgan (Arranger), Credit Agricole, Santander, CoBank ACB, MUFG and SMBC

Legal Advisers: Sullivan & Cromwell, Ropes & Gray

Vantage Data Centers  

The securing a US$3bn green loan by DigitalBridge-backed Vantage Data Centers to fund the ongoing development of its North America data center platform.

Banks and Lenders: Wells Fargo Securities (Structuring Bank), TD Securities (Joint Bookrunner), Truist Securities (Joint Bookrunner) and Scotiabank (Joint Bookrunner)  

Legal Advisers: White & Case  

Digital Infrastructure Mid-Market Deal

Apogee Telecom

The acquisition by Boldyn Networks of Apogee Telecom from shareholders for an undisclosed amount.  

Financial Advisers: Houlihan Lokey (Sell Side); Bank Street (Buy Side)

Legal Advisers: Michael Best & Friedrich (Sell Side); Latham & Watkins (Buy Side)

DQE Communications  

The acquisition by GI Partners of DQE Communications from Duquesne Light Holdings for an undisclosed amount.

Financial Advisers: JPMorgan (Sell Side); TD Securities (Buy Side)

Legal Advisers: Taft Stettinius & Hollister, Morgan Lewis & Bockius (Sell Side); Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, HWG (Buy Side)

Horizon Telcom

The acquisition by Shenandoah Telecommunications (Shentel) of Horizon Telcom from GCM Grosvenor and Novacap for US$385m.

Financial Advisers: Bank Street, Houlihan Lokey (Sell Side); Rothschild (Buy Side)

Legal Advisers: Baker Botts, Greenberg Traurig (Sell Side); Hunton Andrews Kurth (Buy Side)

TeleGuam Holdings  

The preferred equity investment of US$200m by Stonepeak into TeleGuam Holdings.

Financial Advisers: Lazard (Sell Side)

Legal Advisers: Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (Sell Side); Sidley Austin (Buy Side)

Hivelocity

The acquisition by ColoHouse of Hivelocity from shareholders for an undisclosed amount.

Financial Advisers: DH Capital, a division of Citizens (Sell Side); Houlihan Lokey (Buy Side)

Legal Advisers: Gunster Yoakley and Stewart (Sell Side); Hogan Lovells (Buy Side)

Quintillion

The acquisition by Grain Management of Quintillion from shareholders including Cooper Investment Partners for an estimated US$200m.

Financial Advisers: Bank Street (Sell Side)

Legal Advisers: Morgan Lewis & Bockius (Sell Side); Alston & Bird (Buy Side)