Infratil's Vodafone NZ to sell mobile tower assets for $1.1 bln (updated)

Spark New Zealand

17/07/2022 22:44

(Adds deal and ownership details, context)
    July 18 (Reuters) - New Zealand's infrastructure investment
company Infratil Ltd  IFT.NZ  said on Monday Vodafone New
Zealand would sell its  passive mobile tower assets for NZ$1.7
billion ($1.05 billion) to funds managed by two global
investment firms.
    The sale follows a flurry of divestments by telecom firms as
they cut debt and focus on their active mobile assets. Last
week, Spark New Zealand  SPK.NZ  announced the sale of a 70%
stake in its towers business for NZ$900 million.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2YS32W
    Vodafone NZ, of which Infratil owns about 49.95%, will sell
1,484 mobile towers to funds managed by London-based InfraRed
Capital Partners and Toronto-based Northleaf Capital Partners.
    Each of the buyers will hold 40% of the new towers entity,
TowerCo, while Infratil will reinvest proceeds from the sale to
acquire a 20% stake.
    TowerCo will enter a 20-year deal with Vodafone NZ for
access to existing and new towers. TowerCo will build at least
390 additional sites over the next decade, Infratil said in a
statement. (https://bit.ly/3RKklbB)
    The sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject
to approval from Canada's Overseas Investment Office.
    Canada's Brookfield Asset Management  BAMa.TO  holds a
49.95% stake in Vodafone NZ. (https://bit.ly/3P8VAEp)

($1 = 1.6242 New Zealand dollars)

 (Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia
Osterman and Richard Chang)
 ((Sameer.Manekar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))