which was lining up to list on the ASX, and it is set to divest its 50 per cent stake in GeelongPort.The smart meter sector has recovered from a patchy early few years amid a consumer backlash against them in Victoria in the mid-2000s when they failed to deliver the promised benefits amid a mandated rollout. Now, the rise in rooftop solar has opened up a range of other competitive behind-the-meter energy services that providers can offer customers.
Mr Ballantine described the deal as “transformational” for Intellihub as it sought to further build on its 45 per cent share of Australia’s smart metering installations and expand into related behind-the-meter services against major competitors such as Ausgrid’s Plus ES business and New Zealand’s Vector.The company had about 1.3 million meters installed across Australia and New Zealand, with an order book of at least 1.
“It brought about a natural conversation as to sort of who were the best ownership and equity holders ... for the next stage of the business’ future,” he said.Landis+Gyr, a hardware producer, had been happy to support Intellihub in the early days of the venture which started in 2018 and it now made sense to bring in a headline investor at the 50:50 level alongside PEP.