Allen & Overy advises on NBN Co’s USD50 billion GMTN programme and inaugural issuance

Wholly owned by the Australian government, NBN Co built, owns and operates the National Broadband Network (NBN), Australia's high speed wholesale internet access network. 

Commenting on the transaction, partner Mark Leemen said: “It was a privilege to assist NBN Co to establish its global debt programme. For capital markets lawyers, being able to design a programme from a blank sheet of paper is a dream assignment, even more so when we’re helping our clients to fund important national infrastructure. NBN Co’s objective of being able to efficiently access multiple global markets with a single set of documents was a great opportunity to showcase the unique capabilities of A&O’s capital markets platform. We congratulate the NBN Co team on reaching an important milestone in the development of their company.”  

Allen & Overy acted as sole issuer’s counsel to NBN Co, providing Australian, English and US law advice with a Sydney-based team led by Mark Leemen alongside partners Karolina Popic and Minesh Patel, senior associate Matthew Lim, and lawyers Thomas Pertsoulis and Vivienne Zhang.

The team was also supported by regulatory partner Peter McDonald and associate Lachlan Shelley, and tax partner Ka Sen Wong.

Allen & Overy had previously advised on the establishment of NBN Co's AUD10 billion AMTN programme and its inaugural issuances in November 2020, which are a finalist for debt capital markets deal of the year at the Australasian Law Awards.