Winners 2026

Deals of the Year

People & Companies

Deal Data

Due Dilligence Advisor

Altman Solon

Financing Banker of the Year

Ali El Amari, Head of TMT Finance EMEA, Crédit Agricole CIB

Investment Firm of the Year

Brookfield

Lawyer of the Year

David Martin, Corporate Partner, Linklaters

Financing Bank of the Year

SMBC

Legal Advisory Trailblazer of the Year

Linklaters
For advising DigitalBridge on its US$5.8bn acquisition of Yondr Group

Investment Leader of the Year

Manjari Govada, Managing Director, DigitalBridge

M&A Banker of the Year

Laurence Hainault, Senior Managing Director, Evercore

Rising Star

Alexander Oyaert, Chief Investment Officer, Data4

Growth Story of the Year

atNorth

CEO of the Year

Marco Patuano, CEO, Cellnex

Europe Datacentre Deal - M&A

DigitalBridge, La Caisse acquire Yondr for US$5.8bn.
For acquisition by DigitalBridge and La Caisse of Yondr Group from Cathexis Holdings for c. US$5.8bn.
Financial Advisors: Citi (Sell Side); Morgan Stanley (Buy Side – La Caisse)
Legal Advisors: White & Case (Sell Side); Clifford Chance (Buy Side – La Caisse), Linklaters (Buy Side – DigitalBridge)

Europe Fibre Deal - M&A

CVC DIF’s c. US$1bn TDF Fibre unit purchase
For the acquisition by CVC DIF of 100% of TDF’s Fibre business for c. US$1bn.
Financial Advisors: BNP Paribas, DC Advisory (Sell Side); Lazard (Buy Side)
Legal Advisors: De Pardieu Brocas Maffei, Hogan Lovells (Sell Side); Freshfields (Buy Side)

Europe Towers Deal

PTI acquires Cellnex Ireland for E971m
Phoenix Tower International’s acquisition of Cellnex’s business in Ireland for E971m.
Financial Advisors: Barclays PLC, Banco Santander (Sell Side); Nomura (Buy Side)
Legal Advisors: Matheson (Sell Side); Arthur Cox (Buy Side)

Europe Telecom Deal – M&A

£15bn VodafoneThree merger
For the merger deal of Vodafone UK and Three UK, by Vodafone and CK Hutchison for £15bn.
Financial Advisors: HSBC, Moelis & Company (Three UK); Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Robey Warshaw (Vodafone UK)
Legal Advisors: Freshfields, Linklaters (Three UK); Slaughter & May (Vodafone UK)

Europe Datacentre Deal – Financing

E3.3bn Data4 dual-financing package
The structuring of a E3.3bn dual-financing package, divided into E2.2bn of new term debt to refinance 10 operational datacentres (‘StableCo’) and a E1.1bn incremental capex facility (‘GrowthCo’).
Lenders: MUFG, Natixis, SMBC, Société Générale; ABN Amro – report
Legal Advisors: Linklaters (Data4 – StableCo); Simmons & Simmons (Data4 – GrowthCo); Clifford Chance (Lenders)

Europe Fibre Deal – Financing

XpFibre’s multi-tranche E5.8bn refinancing
The multi-tranche E5.8bn refinancing, including bank facilities, inaugural institutional private placement, and capex facility, and a bridge-to-private placement.
Financial Advisors: BNP Paribas, DC Advisory Lenders: BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, ING, MUFG, Natixis and Société
Générale (Underwriters – report) Legal Advisors: Latham & Watkins (Borrowers); A&O Shearman (Lenders)

Europe Telecom Deal – Financing

Telekom Srbija's US$900m international corporate eurobond
The issuance of US$900m in international corporate eurobond.
Participating Banks: BNP Paribas, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Erste Group, Raiffeisen bank, UniCredit and MUFG
Legal Advisors: Clifford Chance; Gecić Law

MEA Digital Infra Deal

KKR acquires Gulf Data Hub stake
The acquisition of a stake in Gulf Data Hub by KKR.
Financial Advisors: JPMorgan (Sell Side); Jefferies, RBC Capital Markets (Buy Side)
Legal Advisors: Baker McKenzie (Sell Side); Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher (Buy Side)

Digital Infrastructure Financial Adviser - Volume

Lazard

Digital Infrastructure Financial Adviser - Value