UniSuper directly enters Europe with $1 billion investment in mobile towers

UniSuper, the award winning $115 billion superannuation fund open to all Australians,  has secured a 5% indirect stake in leading mobile towers business Vantage Towers in an  AUD $1 billion deal. 

Vantage Towers is one of the leading mobile towers businesses in Europe with a portfolio of over 83,000  sites across 10 markets including Germany, Italy, Spain and UK. Vantage Towers’ anchor tenant and  major shareholder is Vodafone, Europe’s largest mobile network operator.

Vodafone recently entered into an agreement with a GIP and KKR led consortium to invest in Vantage  Towers. GIP and KKR are highly experienced infrastructure managers with strong track records in  managing digital infrastructure. UniSuper has acquired its interest in Vantage Towers by joining the  consortium through its relationship with KKR. UniSuper, together with KKR, other consortium  partners and Vodafone, is excited to support, optimise and grow the business into the future. 

This acquisition is UniSuper's first direct unlisted infrastructure investment in Europe, completed after  a period of extensive due diligence.

Sandra Lee, UniSuper’s Head of Private Markets, was delighted to announce the investment, which will  complement UniSuper’s large infrastructure portfolio including Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane  Airports, Transurban Chesapeake, and a growing allocation to forestry assets.

“This is a high-quality defensive infrastructure investment with strong fundamentals and growth  prospects. It adds to UniSuper’s approximately $15 billion private markets portfolio and is positioned  to deliver excellent results for our members over the long term. The expected significant growth in data  demand underpins our interest in the digital infrastructure sector. At a time of economic uncertainty,  we remain cautiously opportunistic, and this is a great example of that approach.

We look forward to a strong relationship with KKR going forward as well as working alongside the  Vantage Towers management team and our co-investors. 

As genuine active long-term investors, we continue to look for sizable opportunities that grow our  members’ retirement savings.”