Vodafone Group finalised the sale of its business in New Zealand to an investment consortium for NZD3.4 billion ($2.2 billion), with an agreement now in place for the new owners to continue using the existing branding.

The agreement, announced in May, was cleared by authorities earlier this month and completed as scheduled today (31 July).

Its new owners, a consortium made up of Infratil and Brookfield Asset Management, also signed-up to a partner market agreement with Vodafone Group. The deal allows them to continue to use existing branding for the unit in addition to accessing preferential roaming agreements, Vodafone’s global IoT platform and central procurement system.

The operator group will also provide a range of business and consumer services to its former unit.

Vodafone CEO Nick Read said: “This transaction is a continuation of our strategy to optimise our portfolio and reduce our debt.”

GSMA Intelligence figures for Q2 placed Vodafone New Zealand as the country’s largest operator by connections, with 5.6 million including cellular IoT. Spark is the next largest, with 2.6 million.