Digital Infrastructure

Advising on data centre, fibre, towers, telecom networks and the wider digital infrastructure space. Market-leading expertise and experience across M&A, Real Estate, Power, Regulatory and Commercial Contracting.

The digital infrastructure sector continues to attract record levels of investment with cutting-edge technologies (in particular the growth of generative AI models) driving demand and innovation and, with that, ever-increasing regulatory scrutiny.

We provide market leading full-service advice across the sector, in particular in relation to data centres, towers, cloud solutions, edge computing, fibre and 5G networks, small cells and WIFI solutions and active/passive RAN roll-outs.

We regularly advise on:

M&A and joint ventures across the digital infrastructure sector
Strategic third party investment and operational partnerships
Equity and debt financing of digital infrastructure throughout the lifecycle, from greenfield sites through construction phases to fully developed assets
Power sourcing, deployment and maintenance
Acquisition and construction of digital infrastructure assets, including all aspects of real estate acquisition, planning and permitting and construction
Leasing arrangements for data centres (hyperscaler and retail) and towers
Release of capital from physical infrastructure sites through “TowerCo”, “NetCo” and “PropCo” and Sale & Leaseback-style transactions
Network sharing arrangements
Key commercial contracting arrangements, including customer contracts, connectivity, power purchase, long-term and transitional servicing and facility management
European-wide digital regulation impacting the digital infrastructure sector

Key Experience

We advised Equinix on various transactions including the related wholesale and retail leasing models, managed services, transitional services, brand licensing and connectivity arrangements, including:

its acquisition of a new data centre development site located in South Mimms, purchased from DC01UK, spanning 85 acres and expected to attract a total investment of approximately £3.9 billion
its expansion into Africa through the acquisition of MainOne
the £2.35 billion takeover of Telecity Group
the sale of eight data centres across Europe to Digital Realty
its acquisition of its LD8 IBX data centre, a major carrier-neutral facility at Harbour Exchange Square in London’s Docklands
the acquisition of Zenium’s data centre business in Istanbul
the purchase from IO of a UK operating data centre business
the acquisition of a data centre in Paris

We have advised Vodafone on various digital infrastructure projects including transactions, partnerships and commercial contract matters such as:

various M&A transactions including the disposals of Vodafone Spain, Vodafone Italy and Vodafone Hungary, the merger of 3UK and Vodafone UK, the acquisition of Liberty Global’s business in Germany and CEE and the merger of Vodafone India with Idea Cellular
its UK network-sharing arrangements with O2 to share 5G active equipment, such as radio antennas, on joint network sites across the UK
its strategic partnership with CityFibre, leading to Vodafone becoming Britain’s largest full fibre broadband provider
the commercialisation of Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure, the 50:50 owned joint venture company with Telefonica which owns and manages Vodafone UK and TEF UK’s passive tower infrastructure
the merger of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers to create a pan-Indian tower company

We advised Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) – now part of BlackRock – on forming a 50:50 joint venture with Spain’s ACS Group to develop and operate next-generation data centres worldwide. Announced in November 2025, the JV oversees ACS’s initial pipeline of 1.7 GW of data centre projects across Europe, the US, Asia, and Australia, valued at approximately €2 billion.

SEGRO on its entry into a joint venture with Pure Data Centre Group to develop a fully-fitted 56MW data centre in West London, with gross capital investment anticipated to be c.£1 billion. The joint venture brings together a 10-acre super-prime industrial site owned by SEGRO and 70MVA of power secured by Pure DC.

We advised American Tower Corporation on the acquisition of Eaton Towers, which owned and operated approximately 5,500 communications sites across five African markets.

We advised a data centre fund on transactions across various European countries, including Switzerland, the Nordics, Germany and France.

We advised a lender consortium of Ares Management, CDPQ and Schroders Capital on providing up to €750 million in financing to Vantage Data Centers. The financing supports the expansion of Vantage’s EMEA data centre portfolio – one of the fastest-growing hyperscale platforms in Europe and Africa – across 14 campuses in markets including London, Frankfurt, Milan, Warsaw, Zurich, Johannesburg and others.

We advised Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) Limited (the telecom arm of PCCW) on the sale of a 40% stake in its passive network business – held via Fiber Link Global Ltd – to China Merchants Capital (CM Capital) for US$870 million. Completed in January 2025, this deal involves HKT’s copper and fibre network assets in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.

We advised L&G Capital on its investment in the Kao Data Centre campus. Kao serves hyperscalers and enterprise customers across the largest data centre market and technology cluster in Europe.

We advised UKIB as cornerstone lender to CityFibre’s £4.9 billion financing programme to support the roll out of full fibre broadband to 8 million UK homes.
We advised UKIB on a £250 million debt financing package to support Quickline Communications’ rollout of full-fibre broadband in rural Northern England.

Key contacts