Chorus lists on the NZSX

Chorus lists on the NZSX

New Zealand's largest fixed line telecommunications network operator Chorus has today begun trading on the main board equity securities market operated by NZX Limited (NZSX).

Listing under the ticker symbol CNU, Chorus shares began trading on the NZSX on a deferred settlement basis at 10:00am today, with trading to commence on a normal settlement basis on the NZSX on Friday 25 November 2011.

Chorus shares began trading on the ASX on a deferred settlement basis on Monday 21 November 2011, with trading to commence on a normal settlement basis on the ASX on Thursday 1 December 2011.

Chorus Chairman Sue Sheldon said she was very pleased to announce the listing this morning. "Chorus' listing on the stock exchange means New Zealanders now have the opportunity to invest in the future of their local telecommunications network," said Sheldon.

Chorus' listing marks one of the final steps towards the structural separation of New Zealand's local access network business from Telecom. Court approval for the split was given earlier this month after 99.8% of votes from Telecom shareholders were in favour of demerger. Chorus will become a wholly independent business on 30 November 2011.

Chorus CEO Mark Ratcliffe said he's excited to be at the helm of the company which will take a leading role in delivering Ultra-fast Broadband (UFB).

"Today's listing symbolises the creation of the company which will help bring fibre closer to more New Zealanders than ever before.

"We chose partnership with the Crown and therefore demerger, because as guardians of the network, we want its rich history to continue to evolve into an even brighter fibre future," said Ratcliffe.

Chorus was chosen by the Crown to build a fibre network for about 830,000 premises, representing approximately 70% of the UFB initiative. In all, Chorus expects to deploy approximately 20,000km of fibre for the UFB and Rural Broadband Initiatives by 2020.

The new fibre network will complement Chorus' existing fibre and copper network that provides about 1.8 million connections today. A wide range of service providers use this network to deliver fixed line phone, broadband and data services to New Zealand homes and businesses.

S&P has assigned Chorus a preliminary investment grade credit rating of BBB/Stable and Moody's has assigned Chorus a preliminary credit rating of Baa2/Stable.

Chorus shares will be distributed to eligible Telecom shareholders at a ratio of one Chorus share for every five Telecom shares held.

ENDS.

Visit Chorus' website to learn more about the company and its UFB and RBI rollout: http://www.chorus.co.nz/

Chorus' online map outlining its UFB candidate areas, the first year deployment plans and its business fibre area can be viewed at: http://www.chorus.co.nz/ournetwork

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