UniSuper invests in leading European mobile towers business

We’re excited to let our members know about our newest infrastructure investment in Vantage.

UniSuper is now the proud owner of a 5% indirect stake in Vantage. We secured the deal for approximately AU$1 billion after an extensive due diligence process, making Vantage the third-largest asset in our $15 billion unlisted portfolio behind Sydney Airport and Adelaide Airport.

So what is Vantage, and why have we invested in it?

Vantage is one of the leading mobile tower businesses in Europe—it’s our first direct unlisted infrastructure investment there. Vantage has over 83,000 sites across 10 European countries, including Germany, Italy and Spain, as well as the United Kingdom.

Vantage’s major tenant and largest shareholder is Vodafone, Europe’s largest mobile network operator and a name Australians would be familiar with.

We expect significant growth in demand for mobile data over the coming years—that means digital infrastructure is an area of opportunity. Vantage is positioned to deliver excellent results for our members over the long term.

“This is a high-quality defensive infrastructure investment with strong fundamentals and growth prospects,” UniSuper’s Head of Private Markets, Sandra Lee, said.

“It 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.”

As active investment managers, we’re excited by the prospect of working alongside the Vantage management team and our co-investors to support and grow Vantage into the future.

Watch Chief Investment Officer John Pearce’s latest video at unisuper.com.au/investments to find out more about our investment in Vantage. John discusses our new investment with Head of Private Markets, Sandra Lee.