(Reuters) – New Zealand’s infrastructure investor Infratil said on Monday it will acquire an 80% interest in interconnection platform Console Connect from Hong-Kong based telecommunications firm HKT Trust and HKT Ltd (HKT) for $160 million.
The company, which is in the midst of strengthening its digital infrastructure portfolio, had also earlier disclosed plans to acquire a 49.95% stake in One New Zealand – the country’s second-biggest mobile market operator by market share- in a deal valued at $1.1 billion.
“It (the acquisition) enables us to invest in building a next-generation platform to support underlying growth in the demand for digital infrastructure and global connectivity solutions by enterprise and wholesale users,” said Infratil CEO, Jason Boyes.
Infratil will also execute a partnership with HKT, in which both companies will jointly invest up to $295 million over the course of two years, the company said in a statement.
Funds from the investment will be diverted to accelerate Console Connect’s sales and marketing, new sub-sea cable and network expansions as well as the platform’s research and development requirements, it added.
Through the initial investment, Infratil will own between 60-80% of Console Connect, with HKT holding the remainder.
The company expects the acquisition to complete by the third-quarter of 2024 assuming all regulatory approvals are granted by then, it said.
(Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Diane Craft)
