New Zealand-based Vodafone is selling its mobile phone tower assets to InfraRed Capital Partners and Northleaf Capital Partners for $1.1 billion, in which both companies will have a 40% stake in the new business known as TowerCo.

Telecommunications companies around the world have begun exploring the idea of selling off “passive assets” such as phone towers and looking for investment opportunities by doing so.

Vodafone has stated that they are extremely pleased and excited to begin working with InfraRed and Northleaf stating that they believe their combined partnership will greatly enhance the company's abilities to improve infrastructure and provide better services to their customers.

The deal must still obtain approval from the New Zealand Overseas Investment office, however, the deal outlines that the new company TowerCo will enter into a 20-year contract in which the company will have access to already existing towers as well as new ones to be built in the future. The deal also dictates that TowerCo is committed to building an additional 390 sites over the next ten years.

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‍Source: Bloomberg