Linklaters has advised Macquarie Specialised and Asset Finance, part of Macquarie Group’s Commodities and Global Markets business, on its agreement with Iberdrola for the purchase of its UK smart meters business, SP Smart Meter Assets Limited for approximately £900 million (approximately €1,060 million or $A1,850 million).

Upon completion of the sale, Macquarie will enter a long-term meter rental agreement to provide smart meter asset provider (MAP) services to ScottishPower and support the business in the further rollout of smart meters across Great Britain.

Macquarie is currently one of the largest independent MAPs in the United Kingdom. Established in 2003, its meters business currently manages over 10 million meters in total, including over 7.5 million smart meters and 2.5 million traditional meters across Great Britain. The acquisition will add around 2.7 million meters to Macquarie’s portfolio, meaning it will manage over 13 million meters nationwide. It has already provided over £1.5 billion of funding to assist with Great Britain’s smart meter rollout.

The multi-practice Linklaters team was led by Corporate M&A Partner Nicole Meyer, together with TMT Partner Rich Jones, Antitrust & Foreign Investment Partner Bruce Kilpatrick and Tax Partner Sam Lintonbon.

The core team also included Employment Counsel Julie Sharp, Pensions Partner Alasdair Smith, IP Partner Yohan Liyanage, Tax Partner Alexei Franks, Tax Associate Alicia Vidal, Energy & Infrastructure Partner Nick Szmigin and Managing Associate Chuan Hong Foo, Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations Partner Andrew Poulton, TMT Managing Associates Dianne Devlin and Silvia Curin-Brown and Associates Matt Creagh and Milan Banjac-Reid, Antitrust & Foreign Investment Managing Associate Judy Zhao and Corporate Managing Associate Eleanor Keighley Elstub and Associate Tom Davies.