Infratil boss leads way in call for cleaner energy
Infratil chief executive Jason Boyes has pulled off the biggest deal of the year in an economic environment that has seen many businesses struggling just to stay afloat.
Infratil’s $ 1.8 billion deal to buy out partner Brookfield and take full ownership of One NZ, topped the merger and acquisition league tables, according to Simpson Grierson.
The deal also had a wider social resonance, putting our secondlargest telco under local control. And investors cheered as One NZ’s valuation was upped by $ 1b to just over $ 3b.
Infratil’s shares were recently up 12 per cent for the year, making it easily the best performer in the NZX20 during a year when nearly all of our large listed companies saw their market cap shrink.
That record wins Boyes the title of Herald business hero of 2023.
Infratil has shifted from owning the likes of buses and petrol stations to high- tech infrastructure that’s changing the way we work and live — from clean energy to giant data centres that enable remote work and the AI boom.
The half- Infratil- owned CDC Data Centres was the first to open massive or “hyperscale” data centres this time last year as it opened twin facilities in Hobsonville and Silverdale — each with tens of thousands of computer servers that run the software and services you use in “the cloud”.
This year, with the global tech giants still building their first local server farms, CDC embarked on an aggressive expansion programme. Infratil’s stake in CDC — which operates on both sides of the Tasman — jumped again and is now worth $ 4.16 billion.
The Infratil boss has also emerged as a voice in the debate over how to fund our transition to cleaner energy.
“New Zealand should follow the American tax credits scheme to develop renewable energy projects and expand the transmission grid,” Boyes told the Weekend Herald.
Through its co- investment with the NZ Super Fund in investment in US solar and wind energy provider Longroad Energy, and clean energy investments in Asia, Australia and Europe, Infratil’s renewable energy also has global reach.
Boyes was new to Infratil when he was named chief executive in April 2021, succeeding Marko Bogoievski, in the role for 12 years.
He had worked at the firm’s manager, Morrison & Co, for more than a decade — and his experience with Infratil predated even that.
Boyes grew up in Blenheim before moving to Wellington for law school. He spent 15 years as a lawyer, becoming a partner at Buddle Findlay, having spent time working for UK law firm Slaughter & May during a spell in London.
Not long afterwards Lloyd Morrison, the late founder of Morrison & Co, called him up inquiring what the bank would need to do to get him to work there. Boyes, impressed by what the company was doing, responded “not much”.
After joining, Boyes was credited with leading the 2013 float of Z Energy, the original deal to buy half of Vodafone NZ ( now One NZ), the major capital raising which followed and the establishment of international renewable energy businesses.
He remains on Morrison’s investment committee and was named as one of the firm’s 14 inaugural partners in May 2023, as it moved to a new ownership model.
Finalists Matt Whineray
The $ 65.4 billion NZ Superannuation Fund celebrated its 20th birthday this year, achieving an average annual return of 9.53 per cent after costs and before tax.
The now- ex chief executive Matt Whineray was there for 15 of those years, the later five as its leader — a period that saw it weather volatile market returns, shift to a more sustainable investment mandate and attempt to fund a light rail network and eye offshore wind power.
Whineray’s favourite measure of success is the fact the fund has added $ 40 billion in value to New Zealand — that figure represents the dollar investment return above Treasury bills, which represents the cost to the Government of contributing to the Fund instead of paying down debt.
In the 2023 financial year the fund made a 9.67 per cent return, compared with the previous year’s negative return.
“Go you good thing,” Whineray said in a repost of the performance on LinkedIn.
His humour and candid nature are evident across the Super Fund team and may be the reason for its strong relationships with other funds internationally.
At the Super Fund’s 20th birthday celebration at the Auckland Art Gallery ( a proxy leaving do for Whineray), he spoke about his role as a temporary guardian of the fund.
“I am proud to have been part of the team that has served as kaitiaki ( guardians) of the Fund up until this first waypoint, 20 years of investing,” he wrote in the fund’s latest annual report.
In this exit interview on Markets with Madison, Whineray announced his departing wish was for the fund to be exempt from paying tax.
He has not made any noise about his next move, beyond enjoying summer with his family, but he can be proud of his contribution and candour to date.
David Yu
David Yu is the creator of successful mobile- based digital collections app VeVe. He took out the title of EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 New Zealand last month and VeVe was the top company in the Deloitte Fast 50 awards.
At just 17, Yu established Games R Us Ltd, ultimately turning comics, old toys and other memorabilia into an entertainment and hobby store.
Since then, VeVe has evolved into the hobby store of the digital world, allowing users to own and showcase their favourite characters, artworks, and memorabilia from popular franchises including from brands such as Disney, Marvel and DC Comics.
It has gone on to sell more than 8 million collectables using nonfungible tokens ( NFT) technology.
The app is used by collectors worldwide, with 35 per cent of its users in the United States and 40 per cent in the UK and Europe.
Yu was labelled a “silent achiever . . . both humble and grounded in his approach” by businesswoman and EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 New Zealand chair of the judges panel Cecilia Robinson.
Yu will fly the flag for New Zealand at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year awards in Monaco next year.
Chris Meehan
Given up for adoption, friends with Danish royalty, a sailing champion, married to a three- time Olympian, building new retirement villages nationally and opening a new hospitality venue outside Arrowtown — Chris Meehan’s life is like something from a book.
The curly- headed businessman, who is chief executive of Winton Land, splits his time between Auckland and Queenstown.
His New Zealand company is named Winton after the Southland town, and the place where he was adopted.
He shot to public prominence here in 2021 when he listed part of his Winton Land on the NZX and ASX.
That was to fulfil a $ 5 billion ambition to develop sites nationally, including building what is being marketed as Auckland’s most luxurious inner- city village in the Wynyard Quarter.
In his younger years, he was part of the Australian sailing team for four years in the lead- up to the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Wife Michaela Meehan is Danish and an accomplished sailor, having competed at the Atlanta, Sydney and Athens Olympics, and the family counts European royalty among its friends.
Winton is now one of this country’s most active and ambitious developers and Meehan’s vision seems to know no bounds.
Sophie Moloney
Sky TV chief executive Sophie Moloney has been navigating Sky TV through choppy waters since
2020.
She has dealt with the rise and fall of competitor Spark Sport; irate shareholders over a failed bid to buy MediaWorks; and an unspectacular rollout of the new Sky Box.
Then there was the mysterious buyer who wasn’t.
In October, Sky announced that it had received a highly conditional, non- binding preliminary expression of interest from a third party to acquire all of the shares in Sky.
The offer was described by the company as “highly preliminary, incomplete and confidential”.
When it came down to it, the third party’s price range fell well short of the board’s view and the mystery would- be buyer was sent packing.
Moloney is now on the verge of a critical period for the business: renewed commercial strategies and a three- year investment plan; and preparations for when the New Zealand Rugby returns to the table for negotiation renewal.
Moloney joined Sky UK in 2003 and has held senior commercial, legal and strategic roles at Sky New Zealand, Sky UK, Sky News Arabia, Abu Dhabi Media and OSN.
She returned to New Zealand in
2018.
Before being appointed chief executive, she was Sky TV’s chief commercial officer.
Sky TV’s share price has performed strongly over the year while the broader market has been in decline.
New Zealand should follow the American tax credits scheme to develop renewable energy projects.
Jason Boyes
I am proud to have been part of the team that has served as kaitiaki ( guardians) of the Fund.
Matt Whineray