Aussie operator snaps up Black + White

Black + White Chief Executive Johnathan Eele during the company's launch in 2008. Photo / Dean Purcell

Aussie telco M2's New Zealand subsidiary has bought Kiwi mobile operator Black + White, in a bid to bolster its business on this side of the Tasman.

Black + White is a mobile virtual network operator which uses Vodafone's network to sell mobile devices.

It promised to help prepay users save on mobile calling without having to sign long-term contracts at its launch in 2008.

The purchase of Black + White's assets will be completed via an issue of additional shares in M2 New Zealand to Black + White shareholders.

M2 New Zealand will be majority owned by M2, with Black + White shareholders taking a 30 per cent stake in the company.

Former Telecom executive and current Black + White chief executive Jonathon Eele has been appointed to lead M2's New Zealand business.

M2NZ was a profitable subsidiary of M2, which would be bolstered in both scale and management depth by the addition of black + White's assets and the appointment of Eele as its first New Zealand-based CEO, said M2 in an announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange.

"We have recognised for some time that for M2 to develop the similarly positive growth to that achieved in Australia over recent years that greater scale and strong, vested local management were key requirements," M2's managing director Vaughan Bowen said.

"The extra scale and support that comes from bringing together the M2NZ and Black + White businesses creates the ideal platform for a marked expansion of our presence in New Zealand over the coming years," he said.

- NZ HERALD ONLINE