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Telstra increases presence in south Pacific
G+T has advised Telstra on the acquisition of a smaller mobile operator, which will give the telecommunications company an increased presence in the south Pacific region.
Lauren Croft
Firm: Gilbert + Tobin (Telstra).
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Deal: G+T has advised Telstra on its acquisition of south Pacific mobile operator Digicel, in partnership with the Australian government.
Value: Approx US$1.6 billon.
Area: M&A.
Key players: Corporate advisory partner Bill Spain led the G+T team on the deal, supported by corporate advisory partner Susannah Macknay and lawyers Maria Eger and James Soussa and graduate Jerone Wills. John Schembri, head of banking and projects, in conjunction with special counsel Rachel Jones, advised on the financing aspects of the deal, supported by Lisa Hamilton.
G+T partner Peter Waters is also advising on regulatory aspects of the deal, with a team including special counsel Tanya Macdonald and lawyers Erin Jardine, James Anthony, Chris Goutama and Sunny Lee. Other specialists across the firm included tax partner Muhunthan Kanagaratnam, technology partner Michael Caplan and lawyer Clare Beardall, as well as IP special counsel Anna Smyth and lawyer Candy Welsh.
Deal significance: Digicel is the biggest mobile operator in the south Pacific region and will now be owned and operated by Telstra. It provides communications services across Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Nauru, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu, with 1,700 employees who support 2.5 million subscribers.
Telstra is contributing US$270 million of equity while the Australian government, through Export Finance Australia, is providing non-recourse debt facilities and equity-like securities totalling US$1.33 billion.
Commenting on the transaction, Mr Spain said: “We have advised our long-standing and very important client, Telstra, on a number of highly strategic deals, and we were very pleased that they once again chose to entrust us to advise them on such a complex and important transaction.
“From a broader Australian national interest perspective, as the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Honourable Marise Payne observed, the deal reflects the government’s commitment, as part of its Pacific Step Up, to support the development of secure and reliable infrastructure in the region, which is critical to the Pacific region’s economic growth and development.
“It will help with the region’s COVID-19 recovery and will support resilience and stability. This is fundamentally in the interests of both Australia and the Pacific region.”
