UniSuper enters Europe with $1bn investment in mobile towers

Australian superannuation fund, UniSuper, has acquired a 5% indirect stake in mobile towers business Vantage Towers in a $1 billion deal.

The super fund has joined the GIP and KKR led consortium, through its relationship with KKR, which entered into an agreement with Vodafone, an anchor tenant and major shareholder in Vantage Towers, to invest in the further development of its business.

Vantage Towers is a mobile towers business in Europe with a portfolio of over 83,000 sites across 10 markets including Germany, Italy, Spain and UK.

UniSuper has said this will be its first direct unlisted infrastructure investment in Europe and it would follow a period of extensive due diligence.

It would also complement its infrastructure portfolio which already includes Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane Airports as well as 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,” Sandra Lee, UniSuper’s Head of Private Markets, said.