TECT Comment On Trustpower Retail Business Sale

Trustpower has today announced the conditional sale of its gas, telecommunications, and retail electricity supply business to Mercury NZ Limited for $441 million.

This follows Trustpower’s announcement in January that it was undertaking a strategic review, including a possible sale of its retail business.

As a result, it was necessary for TECT to update its structure, in order to protect the status of its existing beneficiaries in the event of a sale.

TECT Chairman Bill Holland says the confirmation of the sale underscores the need for the changes to TECT and the importance of Trustees acting when they did.

“The confirmation today of a conditional sale of Trustpower’s retail business reaffirms how crucial it was for Trustees to act when we did to ensure that the rebate was protected for our existing beneficiaries under a change of ownership.

“It’s great to see Mercury’s commitment to retaining the business in Tauranga for the foreseeable future, and we look forward to the continued contribution of the business locally.

“A key condition of the sale includes the TECT restructure to be completed. We are pleased with the progress we have made so far, and our application to confirm the validity of our decision is currently with the High Court.

“However, now that the sale is going ahead, the urgency for the changes to be implemented becomes even greater in order to achieve certainty for our current beneficiaries.

“Trustees will now need to carefully consider the specific detail of the conditional sale, prior to shareholder approval in September. Today majority shareholder Infratil has advised it intends to vote in favour of the sale,” concludes Mr Holland.

A more detailed overview of the High Court Application and next steps can be viewed here on the TECT website.

Read Trustpower’s full announcement here.

For more information on the proposal and changes that were consulted on, please visit www.tect.org.nz.

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