Baker McKenzie was proud to receive three prestigious awards at the TMT Finance APAC Awards, including the coveted "Digital Infrastructure Legal Advisor of the Year (Volume & Value)", cementing the Firm's leadership in high-stakes, transformative digital infrastructure transactions.
The Firm was also honored to advise Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) and PSP Investments (PSP) in the "Digital Infrastructure M&A Deal of the Year", being the USD 16 billion sale by MAM and PSP of AirTrunk to a consortium led by Blackstone, which was the largest data center deal globally and the biggest transaction in Australia in 2024. Baker McKenzie also advised MAM in their acquisition of a majority stake in AirTrunk in 2020.
Additionally, Baker McKenzie was recognized for its involvement in the "Digital Infrastructure Equity Deal of the Year" for advising a consortium of investors on their investment into the international data center platform of DayOne (formerly known as GDS International). The Firm assembled a combined transactional and advisory team across Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Australia and the United States to advise on all legal aspects of the transaction.
These award-winning deals are part of a growing portfolio of headline transactions that the Firm has recently worked on in the digital infrastructure space. Other recent headline transactions include: advising HMC Capital on its AUD 1.93 billion acquisition of Global Switch Australia and its AUD 400 million acquisition of the iseek co-location data centre platform (in connection with the establishment of the ASX-listed DigiCo Infrastructure REIT); representing ARCH Capital in Digital Halo's acquisition of a seed asset in Manila as part of ARCH Capital's strategic data center partnership with Partners Group; and advising ESR Group on the closing of ESR Data Centre Fund I and its joint venture with CloudHQ to develop ESR Cosmosquare, a USD 2 billion hyperscale data center campus located in Japan.
Partner Edwin Wong, who co-leads Baker McKenzie's APAC Data Center Task Force, commented, "These awards are a testament to our team's dedication, transactional expertise, deep industry knowledge and unrivalled footprint across the entire digital infrastructure ecosystem. They also highlight the exceptional teamwork between our lawyers and our esteemed clients, whose trust and collaboration have been crucial to our success."
Partners Simon De Young and Lewis Apostolou, who played leading roles in advising MAM and PSP in connection with the sale of AirTrunk, commented, "Thanks to our valued clients that recently entrusted Baker McKenzie with the implementation of these market leading transactions involving data center platforms in the Asia Pacific region. These transactions are reflective of the rapid increase in data center investment in the Asia Pacific region, driven by the AI revolution and expansion in the digital economy. Thanks also to the talented Baker McKenzie team that utilized their transactional expertise and industry insights in partnering with our clients to close these transactions."
Partner Derek Poon, who led the Baker McKenzie team along with Xinxing Chen in advising the consortium of investors on their investment in DayOne, commented: "This transaction, alongside our other headline deals, underscores our unmatched ability to advise investors on their most complex and business-critical transactions in the digital infrastructure space across the region. Drawing from our deep sector expertise and nuanced local insights, we deliver a seamless, pan-Asia regional service that consistently meets the evolving needs of our clients."
The TMT Finance Awards celebrate excellence in dealmaking and investment within the digital infrastructure sector across the Asia Pacific region.