Deal: Allen & Overy (A&O) has assisted NBN Co in the establishment of its US$50 billion global medium-term note programme and inaugural US$2 billion insurance under the programme. The issuance comprised two series: a five-year, fixed-rate bond of US$70 million and a 10-year fixed-rate bond of US$1.25 billion. 

Value: US$52 billion. 

Area: Technology.

Key players: The Sydney-based team consisted of partners Mark Leemen, Karolina Popic and Minesh Patel who were supported by senior associate Matthew Lim and lawyers Thomas Pertsoulis and Vivienne Zhang. They worked alongside regulatory partner Peter McDonald, associate Lachlan Shelley, and tax partner Ka Sen Wong. 

Deal significance: Wholly owned by the Australian government, NBN Co built, owns and operates the National Broadband Network (NBN). 

Mr Leeman commented: “It was a privilege to assist NBN Co to establish its global debt programme. For capital markets lawyers, being able to design a programme from a blank sheet of paper is a dream assignment, even more so when we’re helping our clients to fund important national infrastructure.”

He added that NBN Co’s objective of being able to efficiently access multiple global markets with a single set of documents “was a great opportunity to showcase the unique capabilities of A&O’s capital markets platform”. 

VIEW ALL

“We congratulate the NBN Co team on reaching an important milestone in the development of their company,” he said.