Leading global law firm, Baker McKenzie, has acted on the listing on the Singapore Stock Exchange of NTT DC REIT, a platform of six stabilised data center assets, in the US, Austria and Singapore.
NTT DC REIT was listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange on 14 July. The portfolio of data center assets is valued at USD 1.5bn. USD 773m was raised from new investors on the IPO (including GIC as a cornerstone investor) and a USD 585m financing was also provided, led by Bank of America N.A. and Mizuho Bank Ltd as lead arrangers. NTT retained a stake in the REIT, and will manage it on an ongoing basis. The transaction provides a way for NTT to monetise its market leading stabilised data centers, and provides investors with exposure to the growing asset class.
Baker McKenzie acted on the carve out, acquisition and financing of the data center assets. They also acted as international counsel to the offering. The Baker McKenzie team was led by Corporate Partners Charles Whitefoord and James Adams (London), working with Capital Markets Partner, Adam Farlow (London), Finance Partner, Oliver Jefferies (London), and Tax Partners, Alistair Craig (London) and Maher Haddad (Chicago). The wider Baker McKenzie team also included:
- Corporate – Senior Associate, Lesley-Anne Wilson (London), and Associate Emma Burton (London)
- Capital Markets – Partner Carol Stubblefield (New York) and Associate Avni Devgan (London)
- Finance – Counsel, Luke Murphy (London), Partners, Emmanuel Hadjidakis and Weiling Lee (Singapore)
- Tax – Senior Associates Daniella Mandel (London) and Christina Georgaklis (London)
- Real estate – Counsel, Jack Rubin (London)
- Carveout – Partner, Richard Needham (London) and associates Christina Khoo and Will Costa (London)
- Customer Contracts – Senior Associate, Maulik Mittal (Singapore)
Baker Mckenzie worked closely with Will Curwen, Megan Sainz, Matt Gallagher and Janelle Yan in the NTT GDC legal team.
This is the latest in a series of data center transactions for NTT which Baker McKenzie has acted on. Commenting on the transaction, Charles Whitefoord said: “We are pleased to have once again worked with the NTT team on this landmark transaction. The listing represents a significant milestone not only for NTT by providing a source of capital and exit strategies for their fast-growing operational data centers, but also for data center investors generally as they look to monetise assets via the Singapore capital markets. We wish NTT GDC and NTT DC REIT every success with the new venture.”