New Zealand provider Vocus has entered an agreement to acquire Stuff Fibre from parent company Stuff Ltd, a New Zealand-based news and media firm.
The move will add Stuff Fibre’s 20,000 broadband customers to Vocus’s 200,000-strong portfolio in a move in-keeping with the latter’s growth strategy.
Launched in 2016, Stuff Fibre’s vision was to use the scale, reach and trust of Stuff and its associated media outlets to launch new businesses and supercharge their growth. The staff at Stuff Fibre will retain their roles within Vocus.
In a press release featured on the Stuff Ltd news channel, Vocus chief executive Mark Callander explained: ‘This is a really positive move for us, we have always been clear that we want to be the telco provider for one in four Kiwi homes – whether that’s through a residential service, or through wholesaling services to another retailer – and this purchase helps bring us closer to that goal.’
Callander added that the purchase, during uncertain times, showed Vocus was confident that there were opportunities for growth in the coming months and years. ‘We have grown our customer base by 10 per cent overnight, when these opportunities arise, you need to grab them,’ he said.
Stuff chief executive Sinead Boucher said of the acquisition: ‘Stuff Fibre has won numerous best in market awards and reached a significant customer base with 20,000 Kiwis on-board and we are thrilled to see it go into the hands of new owners who can take it even further.’
The deal is due to complete on 20 May.
