Telecom NZ and Chorus demerger confirmed by High Court (New Zealand)
The High Court has reportedly given Telecom NZ the go ahead for the demerger of Chorus, to take place on 30 November 2011. According to reports, Telecom NZ has said that it will demerge its Chorus local fixed line infrastructure business, so as to be able to participate in the Government’s Ultra-fast Broadband initiative.
As per sources, Paul Reynolds, CEO, Telecom has said that the receipt of the court orders was the final box to be ticked in the demerger process. He added that they can now confirm that Telecom will complete this extremely complex transaction, which has been delivered in a very tight timeframe, on schedule.
Reports reveal that the Chorus shares will be distributed among eligible Telecom shareholders at a ratio of one Chorus share for every five Telecom shares held.
New Chorus executive team announced in the event of demerger (New Zealand)
Chorus, New Zealand’s largest telecommunications utility provider announced its new executive team in the event that the shareholders approve of its demerger from Telecom Corp. of New Zealand. The demerger follows the deal made by the New Zealand government with Telecom to build the majority of the new nationwide US $2.5 billion fiber network. Chorus will own and operate the entire copper network and most of the fibre, and will be responsible to build the network.
Mark Ratcliffe, CEO Chorus, announced the appointments to the new Chorus executive team. Brian Hall, has been appointed as Financial Controller and will also act as CFO till an appointment has been made. Ed Beattie will be responsible for managing the performance of new Chorus fibre and copper network and maintaining its portfolio of network assets. Chris Dyhrberg will be responsible for network investment, planning, capital management and the roll out of the ultra-fast broadband and rural broadband initiatives. Ewen Powell will be responsible for technology and enterprise infrastructure and managing the systems platforms to deliver business and customer operations. Telecom plans to demerge Chorus by the end of 2011.
Motorola considers demerger plan (USA)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: New ways have been paved by Motorola for the sale of its mobile network infrastructure business but they have also shown interest in forming a joint venture with a rival. A group demerger is also in the plans of the US mobile phone maker resulting in separate stock market listings for its handset and infrastructure businesses early next year.
The company will be lead by Greg Brown, Motorola co-chief executive consisting of the group’s units that make network infrastructure and mobile radio equipment for the emergency services. Two units will be run separately so that he has the ability to sell the network business, or put it into a joint venture with a rival.
China’s Huawei Technologies is reflected as the best suitor for the deal but any transaction risks might encounter opposition from Washington lawmakers.
According to Mr Brown, the network business will be viable for a very long time and if there is an alternative configuration or partnership which provides more economic value to them, the company will consider it.
National Grid to spin off broadcast, mobile phone masts ops
Owner of the UK’s gas and electricity transmission networks National Grid unveiled plans to spin off its broadcast and mobile phone mast business into a separate company that could be worth up to GBP 3 billon. The demerger of the masts business, which hosts television and mobile transmitter equipment, is the second major disposal to be carried out by National Grid following the flotation of its Energis telecoms network in 1997. The announcement was made during the presentation of the compsany’s financial results for the six months ending 30 September. During that period the operating profit from Wireless infrastructure was up 17 percent at GBP 42 million compared with GBP 36 million in the prior period. This performance was principally driven by additional broadcast channel revenues following sales of capacity to ITV and Channel 4 in the second half of last year. The business remains well positioned for double digit profit growth.
Steve Holliday, the chief executive-designate of National Grid, said at the presentation that it had decided to demerge rather than float the masts business precisely because of what happened to Energis, which was caught by the meltdown in the telecom sector in 2000 destroying the value of National Grid’s remaining stake. The demerger is expected to take about six months to complete, although National Grid is open to offers from private equity buyers. The decision to sell the business came as a shock since National Grid only beefed up its masts division two years ago with the GBP 1.1 billion purchase of Crown Castle, which specialises in broadcast transmission. It has since invested about GBP 100 million in the business. Mr Holliday said that the board had decided the masts division was too small, accounting for only 3 percent of the company, and was a distraction from its main gas and electricity transmission business.
