Patrick S. Campbell

Primary Focus & Experience

Mr. Campbell’s experience has included representing numerous satellite operators and customers in the negotiation of agreements for the establishment of joint ventures, the procurement of satellite systems, and the leasing of satellite capacity; representing telecommunications clients in proceedings before the Federal Communications Commission; providing regulatory and corporate advice to companies, financial institutions and investors with respect to public and private equity and high-yield offerings involving communications entities; negotiating contracts for the construction of undersea and underground fiber optic telecommunications systems and for the leasing of rights-of-way on such systems; and advising clients on various dispute resolution and litigation matters in the communications and technology areas.

Mr. Campbell’s recent experience at Milbank includes representing:

• TruVista Telecommunications, a leading telecommunications solutions provider in South Carolina and Northern Georgia and a portfolio company of iCON Infrastructure, in its pending acquisition of Plant Telephone Company and Plant Telecommunications Sales & Services, Inc. (together “PlantTel”), a leading telecommunications solutions provider in Southern Georgia;
• iCON Infrastructure in connection with its acquisition (in a competitive auction process) of a majority of the equity interests of Dobson Fiber, an Oklahoma corporation that owns and operates a 4,500-mile fiber optic network in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, and provides wholesale telecommunications service in Missouri;
• The lenders in the secured term loan and revolving facility for Mobilitie, one of the largest privately held telecommunications infrastructure companies in the United States;
• Amazon in various commercial and regulatory matters, including the negotiation of Launch Services Agreements with launch services provider United Launch Alliance for nine launches to support the deployment of Project Kuiper, Amazon’s planned low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, and launch services provider ABL Space Systems, which will provide launch services for the launch of the first two prototype satellites for Project Kuiper; and advice on FCC regulatory matters in connection with Project Kuiper;
• ORBCOMM Inc. (Nasdaq: ORBC), a global provider of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, in connection with its acquisition by GI Partners, a leading investor in data infrastructure businesses, in an all-cash transaction valuing ORBCOMM at approximately $1.1 billion;
• Fengate Capital in connection with an investment in TowerCom, a cell tower developer, owner and operator; and the acquisition of tower operator Municipal Tower;
• Centerbridge Partners in its $500 million equity investment in Speedcast to acquire the company following a chapter 11 restructuring;
• Unsecured Creditors Committee in the chapter 11 case of Intelsat;
• An ad hoc group of unsecured noteholders in the chapter 11 cases of Frontier Communications Corp.;
• An ad hoc group of lenders on a priming bridge facility for, and later the major restructuring of, the multinational telecommunications and Internet service provider GTT Communications, which owns and operates a Tier 1 internet network and provides cloud services globally;
• An ad hoc committee of second lien noteholders of Windstream Holdings, Inc., a leading provider of advanced network communications, technology, broadband, entertainment, security, and core transport solutions, in connection with its chapter 11 cases;
• Lenders in connection with Stonepeak’s acquisition of Lumens’ Latin American business;
• A bidder for a significant equity interest in Digital Bridge;
• HPS in connection with its financing of IPC, a telecom services provider;
• Internap Corporation and certain of its affiliates (“INAP”) in its chapter 11 cases, achieving confirmation of INAP’s prepackaged plan of reorganization and emergence from bankruptcy only seven weeks after the chapter 11 filing;
• Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, in connection with its entry into a merger agreement with KORE Wireless Group, Inc., a leader in Internet-of-Things solutions and connectivity;
• Sirius XM in connection with the filing and finalization of its insurance claim for the loss of its XM-7 satellite;
• Totum Labs in connection with regulatory and commercial matters relating to its planned satellite-based Internet-of-things network; and
• Tiger Global in connection with its investment in launch services provider Relativity.

Mr. Campbell’s prior experience also includes representing:

• Intelsat, the world's largest satellite provider, in a number of major transactions, including: its initial public offering; acquisition of Intelsat by BC Partners; acquisition and integration of PanAmSat to create the largest satellite operator in the world; formation of a South African joint venture and completion of a related $230 million project financing for a new satellite; and numerous other financing, joint venture, acquisition, launch and procurement contracts;
• Grain Communications in connection with various fiber, tower and wireless spectrum transactions and regulatory matters, including: the issuance of $195 million of securitized notes for the purchase of spectrum from Cincinnati Bell Wireless, and backed by payments due from Verizon Wireless for the lease of that spectrum; the issuance of $330.05 million of securitized notes backed by payments due from AT&T and Verizon Wireless pursuant to two leases of wireless spectrum; and the sale of wireless spectrum licenses to T-Mobile;
• The C-Band Alliance – a consortium of the world’s largest satellite operators – in their efforts to repurpose C-Band spectrum for next generation 5G mobile services;
• Oak Hill in the acquisition and sale of various telecom, cable and fiber operators across the US, including Wave, FirstLight and WideOpenWest;
• Virgin Galactic in connection with the negotiation of a major launch services agreement with OneWeb;
• Cable & Wireless Communications Plc on US regulatory matters in connection with its $1.85 billion acquisition of Columbus International Inc;
• Wave Division in the $1.35 billion acquisition of the assets of Frontier Communications across the Pacific Northwest;
• Mitel Networks Corporation, a Canada-based business communications provider, in its approximately $2 billion acquisition by an investor group led by affiliates of Searchlight Partners;
• Grupo Salinas, a major Mexican conglomerate, on US regulatory matters in connection with its $2.5 billion sale of Iusacell SA, Mexico's third largest carrier, to AT&T;
• SES, the second largest satellite operator in the United States, in the negotiation of agreements to provide satellite capacity to EchoStar Communications Corporation; and the purchase of the assets of satellite teleport operator Verestar, Inc., out of chapter 11 bankruptcy;
• Fox Entertainment Group, a division of The News Corporation, in the negotiation of an agreement with PanAmSat, another large US satellite operator, for the multi-year, multi-satellite carriage of Fox's entire suite of US programming and most of Fox's international programming on PanAmSat's satellites; and
• Numerous other foreign entities, including Canada Pension Plan (Canada), Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Canada), SK Telecom (Korea), Ericsson (Sweden), TowerShare (UAE), Future Fund (Australia), Sumitomo Corporation (Japan), AsiaSat (Hong Kong), Hutchison Global (Hong Kong), TV Azteca (Mexico), Alcatel-SkyBridge (France), and JSAT (Japan), in connection with various contemplated and/or completed US-based telecommunications transactions and matters.

Recognition & Accomplishments

Mr. Campbell is a member of the Federal Communications Bar Association. He is on the boards of directors of several non-profits dedicated to urban affairs and civil rights, including National Park Trust, Street Law, Inc., Live It Learn It and DC Appleseed. He is also on the Board of Visitors for Stanford Law School and the Board of Regents for Georgetown University.

Mr. Campbell has been recognized by Chambers USA and by Legal 500 as one of the country's leading lawyers in the Telecom, Broadcast & Satellite Regulating area. In 2020, he was included in Legal 500’s Hall of Fame for Media, Technology and Telecoms: Telecoms and Broadcast (Transactional), awarded to individuals for receiving constant praise from their clients for continued excellence. In July 2009, he was recognized by The National Law Journal as one of its “40 Under 40” Washington-area lawyers, a list comprised of individuals who “have already made their marks in private practice, in government agencies, on Capitol Hill and with public interest groups.” Mr. Campbell authored a chapter on satellites in Telecommunications Law and Policy.

Mr. Campbell received his J.D., with distinction, from Stanford Law School, where he served as an editor of the Stanford Law Review and was awarded the Carl Mason Franklin Prize for the most outstanding paper in the field of International Law. He received his B.A., cum laude, from Georgetown University. Following law school Mr. Campbell served as a law clerk to the Honorable Judith W. Rogers of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He also previously worked at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.