Vodafone NZ of Infratil to sell mobile tower assets for $1.1 billion.                                          

1,484 cell towers will be sold to funds run by London-based InfraRed Capital Partners and Toronto-based Northleaf Capital Partners by Vodafone NZ, of which Infratil owns around 49.95 percent. The passive mobile tower assets owned by Vodafone New Zealand will be sold for NZ$1.7 billion ($1.05 billion) to funds run by two international investment firms, according to New Zealand’s infrastructure investment corporation Infratil Ltd. As telecom companies reduce their debt and concentrate on their active mobile assets, a flurry of divestitures have preceded the sale. The sale of a 70% share in Spark New Zealand’s towers business for NZ$900 million was disclosed last week.

1,484 cell towers will be sold to funds run by London-based InfraRed Capital Partners and Toronto-based Northleaf Capital Partners by Vodafone NZ, of which Infratil owns around 49.95 percent. Infratil will reinvest the sale revenues to buy a 20% stake in TowerCo, the new towers firm, while each of the buyers will own 40% of it.

TowerCo and Vodafone NZ will negotiate a 20-year agreement to gain access to both current and future towers. Over the following ten years, TowerCo will construct at least 390 additional sites, according to a statement from Infratil. In the event that Canada’s Overseas Investment Office grants its clearance, the sale is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter. Brookfield Asset Management, a Canadian company, owns 49.95 percent of Vodafone NZ.