Freshfields, Kirkland tap 140 lawyers for BT-Verizon telecoms venture

Kirkland and Freshfields are advising BT Group and US telecoms giant Verizon on a 50-50 joint venture to combine international operations and create a “future-ready” organisation.

The deal will create a separate company “designed for the age of cloud and AI”, bringing in around $4 billion in combined annual revenue and serving over 3,000 customers across more than 180 countries.

Kirkland is acting for Verizon and staffed at least around 40 lawyers on the deal, while Freshfields is advising BT and said more than 100 of its lawyers acted on the matter.

Inside the venture

The deal marks the end of BT’s search to offload its 8,000-person international unit which it carved out last year.

In a statement, Verizon said “customers will benefit from secure and resilient connectivity design to meet data, operations and regulatory requirements,” while also allowing the parent companies to better focus on their domestic markets.

Allison Kirkby, chief executive of BT Group, said: “Customers will benefit from new, secure and resilient connectivity platforms which are designed for the age of AI and sovereignty where it matters.”

Dan Schulman, chief executive of Verizon, said: “Our international customers require secure, flexible connectivity that works seamlessly across borders and cloud environments.

“When we thought about how to best support them, this joint venture was the clear answer: a cutting-edge, AI-ready and secure platform run by a single global organization dedicated to their needs.”

BT and Verizon have tapped telecommunications and infrastructure veteran Martijn Blanken as CEO-designate for the new venture.

The deal is expected to be completed in 2027.

Advising

Kirkland’s team advising Verizon includes New York corporate partners Ed Lee, Rachael Coffey and Jimin He, alongside a cross-practice team across London, Chicago, Houston, Washington D.C. and San Francisco.

A Freshfields team including over 20 partners and 80 additional lawyers is advising BT. The team was led by London corporate partners Meredith Bayley, Kate Cooper and Piers Prichard Jones.