Leading global law firm Baker McKenzie has advised Equinix Inc., the world’s digital infrastructure company, on creation of a US$575 million joint venture with PGIM Real Estate, the real estate investment and financing arm of Prudential Financial’s global asset management business, to develop and operate two xScale data centers in Sydney, Australia.
The facilities in the joint venture, which will be known as SY9x and SY10x, are expected to provide more than 55 megawatts (MW) of power capacity to serve the unique core workload deployment needs of a targeted group of hyperscale companies, including the world’s largest cloud service providers. The first xScale data center in Sydney – SY9x is expected to open in Q1 2022.
Commenting on the transaction, Baker McKenzie Corporate Partner, Kirsty Wilson said, "We're delighted to have again partnered with Equinix on its latest xScale data center joint venture, further deepening our close relationship with their team. Our global platform ensured we were well placed to manage and successfully deliver this transaction for our client and we wish both Equinix and PGIM Real Estate well as they develop their partnership in the coming years.”
Baker McKenzie's international team was led by London corporate partners Kirsty Wilson and David Hart, while Sydney-based partners Anne Petterd, Sebastian Busa, Aylin Cunsolo, John Walker and Amrit MacIntyre led on the commercial, property and tax aspects of the transaction respectively. Regulatory advice was provided by Eunice Tan and Darren Yang in Singapore. Senior associate support was provided by a multi-jurisdictional, multi-disciplinary team, including Oliver Feslier Holmes, Matt Gamble and Tom Bernhardt (corporate) and Simone Blackadder and Saskia Volhard (commercial).
Allen & Overy provided Australian regulatory advice and KPMG provided Australian and Singaporean tax advice to Equinix.
The deal is the latest example of a high profile transaction Baker McKenzie has worked on with Equinix. In June 2021, the Firm represented Equinix on its US$3.9 billion joint venture with GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, to develop and operate 17 xScale™ data centres across EMEA and South and Central America. In April 2020, the same Baker McKenzie team advised Equinix on its US$1 billion joint venture with GIC, to develop and operate xScale™ data centres in Japan. A similar deal was signed in 2019 to operate xScale data centers in Europe.
The facilities in the joint venture, which will be known as SY9x and SY10x, are expected to provide more than 55 megawatts (MW) of power capacity to serve the unique core workload deployment needs of a targeted group of hyperscale companies, including the world’s largest cloud service providers. The first xScale data center in Sydney – SY9x is expected to open in Q1 2022.
Commenting on the transaction, Baker McKenzie Corporate Partner, Kirsty Wilson said, "We're delighted to have again partnered with Equinix on its latest xScale data center joint venture, further deepening our close relationship with their team. Our global platform ensured we were well placed to manage and successfully deliver this transaction for our client and we wish both Equinix and PGIM Real Estate well as they develop their partnership in the coming years.”
Baker McKenzie's international team was led by London corporate partners Kirsty Wilson and David Hart, while Sydney-based partners Anne Petterd, Sebastian Busa, Aylin Cunsolo, John Walker and Amrit MacIntyre led on the commercial, property and tax aspects of the transaction respectively. Regulatory advice was provided by Eunice Tan and Darren Yang in Singapore. Senior associate support was provided by a multi-jurisdictional, multi-disciplinary team, including Oliver Feslier Holmes, Matt Gamble and Tom Bernhardt (corporate) and Simone Blackadder and Saskia Volhard (commercial).
Allen & Overy provided Australian regulatory advice and KPMG provided Australian and Singaporean tax advice to Equinix.
The deal is the latest example of a high profile transaction Baker McKenzie has worked on with Equinix. In June 2021, the Firm represented Equinix on its US$3.9 billion joint venture with GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, to develop and operate 17 xScale™ data centres across EMEA and South and Central America. In April 2020, the same Baker McKenzie team advised Equinix on its US$1 billion joint venture with GIC, to develop and operate xScale™ data centres in Japan. A similar deal was signed in 2019 to operate xScale data centers in Europe.
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