QIC seals deal for smart metering business

QIC has reached contractual close for its joint venture deal with Vector Limited’s New Zealand and Australian smart metering business – Vector Metering – the largest provider of its kind across Australia and New Zealand.

The acquisition, which remains subject to regulatory approvals, follows Vector’s announcement in December 2022 of QIC as its preferred joint venture partner.

The deal consists of a sale by Vector of a 50 per cent interest in Vector Metering which will be held and managed by QIC Infrastructure on behalf of investors and co-investors. 

Vector Metering owns and/or manages over 2.3 million meters across the electricity and gas markets in Australia and New Zealand.

QIC’s Head of Infrastructure, Ross Israel said it is another demonstration of their strong commitment to a sector centric and thematic based investment strategy of which energy transition is a core focus.

“With this investment, QIC Infrastructure’s global investments supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy have grown to A$5 billion. Our energy platform assets also aim to invest more than A$15 billion in the energy transition over the next five years,” Mr Israel said.

“Smart meters have a critical role to play in the decarbonisation of electricity supply in both Australia and New Zealand. Their role is rapidly evolving from data processing for timely billing purposes. They are an enabler for electricity networks to manage an ever-increasing volume and volatility of electricity supply due to the broader energy transition and increasing penetration of renewable generation,” he said.

“The electricity mass market is Vector Metering’s core competency. The business is the leading provider in New Zealand where we believe its significant scale will support future growth and the extensive roll-out of smart meters in Australia. The latter opportunity represents further growth and investment for the company,” Mr Israel said.

Mr Patrick Mulholland, Senior Principal – Infrastructure, QIC, who led the deal, said QIC’s deep industry experience and extensive relationships across Australia and New Zealand will be critical elements in further refining and enhancing Vector Metering’s business plan and strategy, and have positioned QIC as the partner of choice for Vector Ltd. “Both Vector and QIC bring complementary skills to the business that will support it financially and strategically to grow and enable the energy transition,” Mr Mulholland said.

Advisors to the deal were JP Morgan, Craigs Investment Partners, Herbert Smith Freehills and Russell McVeagh.