TLA represents AquaComms

Tribonian Law Advisors (TLA) announced that it represented the ultimate shareholders of Aqua Comms Limited (AquaComms)on the USD125 million financing (led by Nomura) relating to the development of the America Europe Connect (AEConnect) subsea cable system. AEConnect is scheduled to be ready for service in December 2015, as the latest transatlantic subsea fiber optic cable system connecting North America to Europe with unprecedented capacity and reliability.

 AEConnect will land in Shirley (New York) and Killala on the West Coast of Ireland, spanning more than 5,400 km with stubbed branching units for future landings, and will use CeltixConnect, an Irish Sea subsea cable wholly owned by AquaComms, to provide extended connectivity to London and greater Europe.

 AEConnect will utilise the latest optical technologies to provide the most advanced subsea telecommunications system, coupled with a control plane based on innovative Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies to serve bandwidth-intensive applications. Featuring the latest technology of 130 Gbps x 100 Gbps per fibre pair, AEConnect will provide low latency connectivity to satisfy the bandwidth requirements of global data centres, cloud-based networks and content providers. AEConnect is a product of partnerships with TE SubCom and key customers. The initial project cost is expected to be USD300 million.

 The TLA team was led by the firm’s managing partner Rindala Beydoun, and Carlo Pianese, who were assisted by associates Jihad Harfouche and Celine Bsaibes. Nomura was assisted by Milbank and White & Case. Dublin-based law firm Philip Lee acted as counsel for the borrower.