‘Vodafloat’ on agenda for 2020

New boss tasked with getting Vodafone NZ into shape for an IPO within two years. Tom Pullar-Strecker reports.

Vodafone will make a second attempt to float its New Zealand business, after shelving a plan to list on the New Zealand stock exchange earlier this year.

Newly appointed Vodafone NZ chief executive Jason Paris said he was tasked with getting the telecommunications firm ‘‘in shape’’ for an initial public offering (IPO).

‘‘The target is an IPO in 2020. It is not a hard stop, but that is what we would like to see.’’

That strategy was being driven by the fact that Vodafone Group wanted to free up capital for higher-growth markets, he said.

Preparation would involve cutting costs and seeking growth opportunities, but Paris said Vodafone NZ had ‘‘no interest’’ in following Spark by building its own standalone television entertainment or sports business.

Vodafone would instead continue to partner with Sky Television, while also hoping to add other content – including Spark’s Lightbox streaming television service and the forthcoming Spark Sport service – to its Vodafone TV platform, he said.

‘‘We have a very strong relationship with Sky and that will continue. By a large stretch they are our preferred content partner. But our goal is to make all content New Zealanders want to watch accessible and that means [we] will want to partner with Spark in entertainment and sport. I haven’t had any conversations with Sky yet about that, but that will happen.’’

Paris said Vodafone TV would begin offering a new range of