No shortage of suitors for Vocus NZ
Sixteen companies have expressed interest in buying the country’s fourth-largest internet provider, Vocus New Zealand, according to a source with connections to the business.
Vocus NZ owns the Slingshot, Orcon and CallPlus brands as well as a fibreoptic backhaul network. Australianlisted parent Vocus announced last month that it intended to sell the firm to reduce debt. Several private equity firms are understood to be among the potential bidders.
Vocus NZ chief executive Mark Callander said he could not comment on the number of buyers that might have expressed interest in the firm.
‘‘We are only just starting the process. Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs have been appointed as advisers, but that is as far as it has got,’’ he said.
Spark and Vodafone have hinted they expect to run the ruler over Vocus NZ, while stopping short of confirming that.
Spark chief executive Simon Moutter said at the company’s annual meeting he expected ‘‘to see, and participate in, significant consolidation of the retail broadband industry over the next couple of years’’.
He reiterated his belief it had become cheaper to ‘‘acquire a customer base’’ through mergers and acquisitions than to try to win customers from rivals through marketing efforts.
Vodafone NZ consumer director Matt Williams said its official line with regard to Vocus NZ was ‘‘no comment’’, but added that Vodafone was ‘‘an active participant in the market’’.
Williams said suggestions that a takeover of Vocus NZ might be bad for competition ‘‘were a question for the Commerce Commission’’.
But the broadband market was ‘‘intensely competitive’’, he said. ‘‘Currently there are something like 86 retailers in the market and there are constant price offers with a lot of price competition, so I personally don’t think there is any issue with the health of the market.’’