Ontario Teachers’ Announces Agreement to Acquire Mobile Tower Business from Spark New Zealand

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (“Ontario Teachers’”) announced today that it will acquire a 70% interest in Spark New Zealand’s mobile towers business for NZ$900 million. Spark’s TowerCo business (“TowerCo”) is a leading New Zealand towers business with 1,263 sites.

Under the terms of the acquisition, Spark New Zealand has entered into a 15-year agreement with TowerCo (plus rights of renewal) to secure access to existing and new towers, with a build commitment of 670 sites over the next 10 years.

Bruce Crane, Senior Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific Infrastructure & Natural Resources at Ontario Teachers’ said: “The acquisition of a 70% stake in TowerCo is an ideal fit for our growing global portfolio of high-quality infrastructure assets. This investment builds on our long track record of investing in superior businesses in New Zealand and will draw on our deep experience investing in digital infrastructure businesses globally. We look forward to working with the Spark New Zealand team to build and grow a leading business that will enable New Zealanders’ continued access to critical telecommunications services to meet their growing mobile demand needs over the long-term.”

Spark New Zealand CEO Jolie Hodson said: “We are pleased to have formed this strategic partnership with Ontario Teachers’ – a high-calibre investor with a long-term partnering focus and significant experience managing a portfolio of infrastructure investments globally, including within Australia and New Zealand.”

Ontario Teachers’ is a significant investor in New Zealand, including its recent private equity investments in Abano Healthcare Group and Asia Pacific Healthcare Group, as well as a large portfolio of timberland assets.

The transaction is subject to regulatory review and is expected to close in late 2022.

About Ontario Teachers’

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers') is a global investor with net assets of C$241.6 billion as at December 31, 2021. We invest in more than 50 countries in everything from equities to real estate to infrastructure and venture growth, to deliver retirement income for 333,000 current and retired teachers in Ontario.

With offices in Hong Kong, London, San Francisco, Singapore and Toronto, our more than 350 investment professionals bring deep expertise in industries ranging from agriculture to artificial intelligence. We are a fully funded defined benefit pension plan and have earned an annual total-fund net return of 9.7% since the plan’s founding in 1990. At Ontario Teachers’, we don’t just invest to make a return, we invest to shape a better future for the teachers we serve, the businesses we back, and the world we live in. For more information, visit otpp.com and follow us on Twitter @OtppInfo.

Media contact

Dan Madge
Director, External Communications
Phone: +1 (416) 419-1437
Email: media@otpp.com