Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises Cellnex Telecom on the completion of its acquisition of the UK telecommunications tower assets of CK Hutchison Holdings

International law firm Clifford Chance has advised longstanding client Cellnex Telecom on the completion of its acquisition of the telecommunications tower assets of CK Hutchison in the United Kingdom (which includes interests in or revenues deriving from up to 6,600 sites, once build to suit programmes are completed). This follows Clifford Chance advising Cellnex on the disposal of a package of approximately 1,100 sites in the UK to Wireless Infrastructure Group, which satisfied the Final Undertakings which were proposed by Cellnex and CK Hutchison and accepted by the Competition and Markets Authority in May this year.

This marks the completion of the last transaction contemplated by the agreements entered into between Cellnex and CK Hutchison in November 2020 for Cellnex to acquire CK Hutchison's telecommunications sites in six European countries: Austria, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Italy and the UK. Cellnex was advised by Clifford Chance on each of these six independent transactions, which amount to a total investment of approximately €10 billion, with an additional investment of around €1.15 billion over the next eight years (including the roll-out of new sites, amongst other projects).

The Corporate team comprised partner Joel Ziff, senior associate Riaz Pirmohamed and associates Henry Sit and Imogen Saunders in London, and partner Guillermo Guardia and senior associate Jose Maria Vilaseca in Spain. The Tech//Digital team comprised partner André Duminy and senior associates Mark Fisher and Jamie Andrew. Partner Alex Nourry, counsel Chandralekha Ghosh, senior associate Sam Parry and associate Josh Kennion advised on antitrust. Advice on the financing of the transaction was provided in London by partner Richard Day, senior associate Tina Xu and associate Angus McWhirter, and in Spain by partner Epifanio Perez and senior associate Felipe Font. Partner Alis Pay and senior associate Rob Donnell advised on real estate. Tax directors Julian Feiner and Simon Corzberg provided tax advice.