Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan buys stake in Australian telecom companies

TORONTO -- The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has added to its portfolio by acquiring about 70 per cent of three telecommunications companies in Australia from Leighton Holdings Ltd.

The plan says the three companies -- Nextgen Networks, Metronode and Infoplex -- have a combined value of $885 million.

Nextgen manages high-speed, carrier-grade fibre network services; Metronode provides data centre and related value-added services; and Infoplex provides cloud and ICT services.

The businesses have been brought together under a new ownership structure and have been rebranded as the Nextgen Group.

Leighton, based in Sydney, will retain an approximately 30 per cent ownership share in the Nextgen Group, which will remain headquartered in Australia with existing management remaining in place.

With $129.5 billion in net assets as of the end of 2012, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is the largest single-profession pension plan in Canada.