‘Vodafloat’ back on telco CEO’s agenda
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 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 TV 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 Vodafone TV set-top boxes in February. These would connect to customers’ home wi-fi networks so they needn’t be wired into broadband, and would later support voice commands.
‘‘It is like a ‘Siri’ for Vodafone TV and it is on the road map for before June next year.’’
Paris confirmed Vodafone’s first attempt to market Vodafone NZ to Kiwi investors had stalled because there was too much of a difference between what investors believed it might be worth and Vodafone’s asking price for a stake in the subsidiary.
‘‘The overall market was a lot tougher than we anticipated. That was a big part of the decision by [former chief executive] Russell Stanners to move on . . . He would have had to stay on to 2021 to see it through and he was struggling to be energised about a 17-year tenure.’’
Vodafone NZ currently employs 3000 staff and Paris said that would reduce, though he did not by how many at this stage.
The company would seek growth opportunities in areas such as entertainment, health, security, the ‘‘internet of things’’ and home automation, he said.
‘‘My vision is we are the most efficiently run telco in New Zealand by the end of next year, and we have created the room to invest in some pretty clear areas for revenue and profit growth in new digital services.’’ Spark has picked up the broadcasting rights for the FIH Hockey event series, including all Vantage Black Sticks men’s and women’s competitions.
The broadband and phone company said it would produce and be the host broadcaster for all FIH (International Hockey Federation) Pro League matches played in New Zealand, in partnership with production company NEP New Zealand.
The four-year deal marks Spark’s first move into sports production. It said in a statement to the New Zealand stock exchange that the move demonstrated its ambition to become ‘‘a key player in the local sports market’’.
It said it will announce more sports rights in coming weeks.
Last month Spark announced it had secured the New Zealand rights to the Formula One championship, starting with the Australian Grand Prix in March.
Spark first threw down the gauntlet to Sky Television in April when it announced it had won the rights to next year’s Rugby World Cup in Tokyo.
Then in August it won the rights to English Premier League matches for three seasons, starting from next August.
Spark will launch a new sports streaming service, Spark Sport, early next year to deliver the programming, Spark chief financial officer David Chalmers said.
US firm iStreamPlanet, a subsidiary of WarnerMedia, would be providing the technology for Spark Sport, he said.
Plans and pricing have yet to be disclosed.
But Spark spokeswoman Ellie Cross has indicated the company might have enough sports content for it to offer all its sports for a single price as well as letting customers – who need not be Spark broadband customers – subscribe to watch individual events and competitions.