Vodafone to sell New Zealand subsidiary for NZ$3.4 billion
Vodafone New Zealand will be sold to Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management and infrastructure operator Infratil.
British telco Vodafone on Tuesday said it will be selling its wholly-owned New Zealand arm to an investment consortium for NZ$3.4 billion.
Vodafone New Zealand will be sold to Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management and infrastructure operator Infratil. The New Zealand firm will continue to use the Vodafone brand and have preferential agreements with Vodafone for aspects of the business such as global roaming, access to tech platforms, and procurement.
The deal was announced early on Tuesday, before Infratil shares began trading on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. Shares of Infratil closed the day’s session 2.61% lower, at NZ$4.48.
The planned deal, which is expected to be cleared by the end of August, will require the approval from New Zealand’s competition watchdog the Commerce Commission and the Overseas Investment Office.
Vodafone New Zealand is the country’s biggest mobile phone operator and the second-largest telecoms carrier. The telco’s rivals include Spark New Zealand and 2degrees.
According to the New Zealand Commerce Commission, as of 2017, Vodafone owns close to 40% of the mobile subscriber market, followed by Spark at more than 35%, and 2degrees at around 25%.
In 2017, a planned merger between Vodafone New Zealand and pay-TV Sky Network Television was blocked by authorities, who had argued that the joined-entity would own too much market share. With the earlier deal, Vodafone would have been able to cash out NZ$3.4 billion and also retain a 51% operational control of the merged entity.
This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients.
CFDs are a leveraged products. CFD trading may not be suitable for everyone and can result in losses that exceed your initial deposit, so please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved.
Act on stock opportunities today
Go long or short on thousands of international stocks with CFDs.
- Get full exposure for a comparatively small deposit
- Trade on spreads from just 0.1%
- Get greater order book visibility with direct market access
See opportunity on a stock?
Try a risk-free trade in your demo account, and see whether you’re on to something.
- Log in to your demo
- Try a risk-free trade
- See whether your hunch pays off
See opportunity on a stock?
Don’t miss your chance – upgrade to a live account to take advantage.
- Trade a huge range of popular stocks
- Analyse and deal seamlessly on fast, intuitive charts
- See and react to breaking news in-platform
See opportunity on a stock?
Don’t miss your chance. Log in to take advantage while conditions prevail.
Live prices on most popular markets
- Forex
- Shares
- Indices
Prices above are subject to our website terms and agreements. Prices are indicative only. All shares prices are delayed by at least 15 mins.
