Skip to navigationSkip to contentSkip to footerHelp using this website - Accessibility statement
  • Subscribe
    • The Australian Financial Review
    Newsfeed
    Newsfeed
    Advertisement
    Street Talk

    Morrison & Co dials into fibre deals

    Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Tim Boyd
    EmailLinkedInTwitterFacebook

    Subscribe to gift this article

    Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.

    Subscribe now

    Already a subscriber?

    If you believe one's an incident, two's a coincidence and three is a pattern, then there is a definite pattern brewing among Australia's infrastructure investment managers.

    Morrison & Co is set to secure a new fibre acquisition.  Nic Walker

    They're head over heels in love with telecommunications infrastructure - and are busy seeking ways to own it.

    First was First State Super/Aware Super's $600 million bid for broadband networks owner OptiComm earlier this month, then AMP Capital's bid for Swedish fibre tech business VX Fiber last week.

    And now Morrison & Co is set to join the party.

    It is understood Morrison is closing in on its own fibre network acquisition via the Morrison & Co Growth Infrastructure Fund, which was set up in 2018 and recently hit $580 million in funds raised.

    Advertisement

    The acquisition is understood to be in Europe - and is big enough that the team back in Australia is readying for the deal, including setting up a new company with the corporate regulator called "MGIF Fibre Europe Pty Ltd".

    From where we sit, it doesn't really matter whether the deal is in France or Frankfurt. The key takeaway is that infrastructure investors are crawling over fibre and telecommunications networks, and trying to get set in what's become the next battleground for investors that have traditionally scrapped over stakes in ports, airports, power networks and pipelines.

    That's good news for the Australian government, which has Australia's biggest internet infrastructure asset in its stable and is expected to look to sell and/or float it at some stage in coming years.

    Meanwhile Morrison & Co's European fibre deal comes as its number-crunchers back in Australia work on a bid for Quadrant Private Equity's radiology business QScan. The team recently missed out on Healthscope's NZ pathology unit, which went to some like-minded infrastructure types.

    Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones. Email Sarah at sarah.thompson@afr.com
    Anthony Macdonald is a Chanticleer columnist. He is a former Street Talk co-editor and has 10 years' experience as a business journalist and worked at PwC, auditing and advising financial services companies. Connect with Anthony on Twitter. Email Anthony at a.macdonald@afr.com
    Tim Boyd is a journalist, based in Sydney, who writes for the Street Talk column. Connect with Tim on Twitter. Email Tim at tim.boyd@afr.com
    EmailLinkedInTwitterFacebook

    Subscribe to gift this article

    Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.

    Subscribe now

    Already a subscriber?

    License article

    Read More

    Latest Street Talk

    See all Street Talk