Top firms lent expertise to transactions in the infrastructure, produce, renewable energy sectors
Bell Gully, Ashurst Perkins Coie and MinterEllisonRuddWatts played roles in significant New Zealand transactions involving the infrastructure, produce, renewable energy sectors.
Bell Gully and Ashurst Perkins Coie teamed up to advise the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) on the procurement of the public private partnership (PPP) for the Warkworth to Te Hana, a Road of National Significance, project.
A 26km, 4-lane motorway will be constructed between Warkworth and Te Hana, with interchanges at Warkworth, Wellsford and Te Hana. The Warkworth to Te Hana project covers a section of Ara Tūhono, which is part of the Northland Corridor.
“Northland has incredible potential and Warkworth to Te Hana is one of the most significant infrastructure investments this government is making to support jobs, unlock economic growth, and provide a safer, more resilient connection for people and freight between Auckland and Northland”, transport minister Chris Bishop said in a media release.
He added that the Warkworth to Te Hana PPP is the biggest in New Zealand history.
The Northway consortium was granted the PPP to design, construct, fund, operate and sustain the motorway. The consortium consists of ACCIONA Construction, ACCIONA Concesiones, Aberdeen Investments and subcontractors like AECOM and Downer New Zealand.
The total overall project cost comes to about $3.649bn at net present value throughout the 32-year building and operating term. The government confirmed that it had inked the PPP agreement last week.
Bell Gully and Ashurst Perkins Coie handled all aspects of the project’s structuring and procurement, such as the contractual negotiations and finalisation of the agreement. The team modernised and maximised the previous NZ standard form PPP Project Agreement.
Commercial infrastructure partner Angela Harford led the Bell Gully team alongside construction and projects partner Ian Becke and PPP and public law expert partner Kirsty Dobbs. They received support from senior associate Ruth Keats and the firm’s infrastructure team.
Sydney’s Angus Foley headed up the Ashurst Perkins Coie team, which consisted of partners Jennifer Ingram and Krista Payne with support from senior associate Alice Dawson (projects, energy, environment and resources) and the firm’s infrastructure team.
The team collaborated with Northland Corridor programme director Derek Robertson and NZTA general counsel, commercial – governance Ben Warden over two years.
Corporate partner Mark Forman spearheaded a team assisting J&P Turner Limited on its agreement to purchase T&G Global's New Zealand fresh produce and transport business through its wholly owned subsidiary Turners & Growers Limited.
The Turner family will also lease the properties housing the operations of relevant growing units. The acquisition is pending approval from the New Zealand Commerce Commission.
The rest of T&G Global’s Fresh business will be sold to Bidfood Pacific Islands Limited and Pukekawa Holdings Limited and Ashsadeep Company Limited, current minority shareholders in Unearthed Produce Limited (UPL). Bidfood picks up T&G Global’s Fijian and Pacific Islands export businesses in a transaction set for completion on 1 September; Pukekawa Holdings Limited and Ashsadeep Company Limited acquired T&G Global’s 51% stake in UPL.
Forman worked alongside partners David Gilbert, Christopher Young and Andrew Ryan; senior associates Alex Bouwman, Holly-Marie Rearic, Rob Penney and Steven Liu; and solicitors Nick Stewart, Bernice Kong and Hasan Malik.
Another MinterEllisonRuddWatts corporate partner, Neil Millar, was at the helm of a team that guided Mercury NZ Limited on its ~$53m investment in Datagrid Holding Group NZ Ltd.
The investment nets Mercury a 12.7% minority equity interest in Datagrid NZ.
“As demand for large-scale computing capacity continues to accelerate globally, projects such as Datagrid NZ have the potential to unlock significant economic opportunities for New Zealand while supporting long-term investment in renewable generation”, Millar said in a media release.
Datagrid NZ is developing a 360MW hyperscale data centre project in the Southland area’s North Makarewa – is anticipated to be the most advanced large-scale data centre development in New Zealand, according to MinterEllisonRuddWatts. It is designed to support AI, sovereign cloud and high-density computing workloads.
Mercury’s financial injection is expected to support the construction of infrastructure to aid in meeting data-intensive industries’ rising energy requirements.
Millar worked alongside partners Natasha Hood (energy and infrastructure), Ed Smithies (real estate) and Stephanie de Groot (environment); senior associate Olivia Pahulu (environment); and solicitor Oscar England (corporate M&A).
