When confronted with a quote by former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims, Banducci interjected \u201cretired\u201d.<\/p>\n
It was a minor dig, but when the interviewer failed to agree to cut it from the interview, Banducci walked out, triggering a media storm.<\/p>\n
The New Zealand Shareholders Association also queried why Banducci\u2019s most recent role, chief executive of the private equity-owned Ticketek Entertainment Group (TEG) between early 2025 and May this year, was not included in the notice of minutes. <\/p>\n
So did activist investor Stephen Mayne.<\/p>\n
Brad Banducci at Infratil’s annual meeting. Image \/ livestream still<\/p>\n
The Australian Financial Review reported at the time that Banducci made an \u201cabrupt exit\u201d from Ticketek after clashing with the firm\u2019s private equity owners, Silver Lake, amid market share losses.<\/p>\n
Infratil chair Alison Gerry said Ticketek was not included \u201cbecause it was a private company, he held the role for a short period of time, and we didn\u2019t think it relevant to the reasons why we wanted him sitting around the Infratil board table\u201d. <\/p>\n
Those centred on his operational experience, particularly at Woolworths, which would help replace the skill set lost as the long-serving Peter Springford retired. <\/p>\n
However, Banducci seemed happy to discuss his time at Ticketek.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learnt a lot in my 15 months at Ticketek. The primary thing I got to do was go really deep on technology. In a very large business like Woolworths, there are many layers between you and where the work is done.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got to really get hands-on with the tools \u2013 which I think is key right now. We all need to be engaging with the power of GenAI [Generative artificial intelligence], whether we like it philosophically or ethically, or not, and see what it can unlock in the context of a business \u2013 and that\u2019s something I got to do over the past 15 months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Banducci gave all TEG staffers access to Anthropic\u2019s Claude and Google\u2019s Gemini Pro and invested \u201chefty\u201d amounts into new artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning systems, enabling new features including the ability to upgrade to empty seats in the middle of an event.<\/p>\n
But Silverlake was reportedly unhappy with the amount he had spent on new technology and AI engineering hires.<\/p>\n
NZSA chief executive Oliver Mander told the Herald that although his group had questioned the Ticketek omission, it agreed that Banducci had the operational chops. <\/p>\n
The appointment of Banducci plus a second director based in Australia, Tiffany Fuller (Computershare, Washington H. Soul Pattinson), also gave Infratil a better regional spread, Mander said.<\/p>\n
Management fee can be paid in script<\/p>\n
Mander\u2019s group also voted in favour of another key resolution: that Infratil\u2019s board have the option to pay all or part of a pending incentive fee payment to its manager, Morrison, in shares rather than cash.<\/p>\n
The motion carried with 91% support.<\/p>\n
Morrison earned some $346 million in incentive fees for FY26, payable over the following three years. The third instalment was the subject of the cash versus scrip question.<\/p>\n
Mander said the measure gave the board more flexibility and was part of a series of reforms that had made Morrison\u2019s management fee more palatable.<\/p>\n
The perennial question of whether Infratil\u2019s management should be internalised was raised by three shareholders during the Q&A.<\/p>\n
Gerry said Infratil got 20 fulltime Morrison executives as part of the deal, with access to 200 more. She noted Morrison did not clear its 12% hurdle and received no incentive fee for FY26 (though $103.4m was paid in separate management fees).<\/p>\n
In March, the landscape changed as Japanese heavyweight Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank took a 15% stake in Morrison. <\/p>\n
Gerry said the deal did not change the Infratil-Morrison relationship. There had always been a \u201chealthy tension\u201d between Infratil\u2019s board and Morrison, which had a number of clients, as they looked for investment opportunities both together and separately.<\/p>\n
A single contract was \u2018transformational\u2019<\/p>\n
Artificial intelligence \u2013 or \u201cAI factories\u201d, AKA data centres, loomed large over the meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarket volatility meant FY26 was not quite the steadier year we had hoped for \u2013 Liberation Day etc. However, since then, CDC\u2019s announcement of Australasia\u2019s largest ever data centre contract, in early May, more than made up for that,\u201d said Infratil chief executive Jason Boyes.<\/p>\n
Infratil owns just under half of CDC, which has emerged as easily its largest asset.<\/p>\n
Investors cheered the monster 550-megawatt (MW) contract, with an unnamed US customer, when it was revealed in May. Infratil\u2019s shares spiked to an all-time high. <\/p>\n
Boyes called the 550MW contract \u201ctransformational\u201d.<\/p>\n
CDC now had a pipeline of one gigawatt (1GW or 1000MW) of contracted capacity and was building new data centres to fill it.<\/p>\n
CDC\u2019s operating earnings are forecast to increase from A$392m in FY26 to between A$680m and A$720m in FY27 and more than A$1 billion in FY28.<\/p>\n
Boyes said once CDC has built and is invoicing its 1GW of contracted capacity, that will grow to about A$2b on an annualised basis.<\/p>\n
CDC’s Eastern Creek data centre in Sydney.<\/p>\n
This year, CDC expects to spend A$3.8b to A$4.2b to build more data centre capacity, excluding land, the Infratil chief executive added, \u201cmassive numbers\u201d, displaying a slide of CDC\u2019s 200MW Eastern Creek \u201ccampus\u201d in Sydney, which is currently being upgraded. <\/p>\n
In June, CDC added 90MW of capacity and doubled the amount under construction to 800MW of capacity being added across various sites.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, CDC also announced it\u2019s partnered with Contact to explore a 250MW data centre for Stratford in Taranaki (a Fitch survey recently said that the 60 data centres in New Zealand today have a combined 170MW capacity).<\/p>\n
Source \/ Infratil investor presentation<\/p>\n
Concentration risk?<\/p>\n
Boyes flashed up slides showing the rising dominance of \u201cdigital infrastructure\u201d, shown in blue, in Infratil\u2019s portfolio.<\/p>\n
\u201cCDC\u2019s size in our portfolio is a big chunk of that blue. It means some investors ask, and they should, when we might sell it to reduce any potential concentration risk. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur view at the moment is that we remain comfortable with its position and scale in our portfolio today. Approximately half of CDC\u2019s valuation is low risk, comprising lengthy leases for mostly new, cutting-edge data centres, to some of the world\u2019s most credit-worthy customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the past three years, CDC Data Centres has risen to dominate Infratil’s capital expenditure, and become easily its most valuable asset. But One NZ has been esily the largest contributor to operating earnings (ebitdaf). Source \/ Infratil investor presentation<\/p>\n
CDC owns its data centre buildings and infrastructure, while clients like Amazon and Microsoft lease space to \u201cco-locate\u201d their servers inside it.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur focus is around sifting through the noise around AI, and there\u2019s a lot of it, to understand what really matters for our existing businesses. We\u2019re in a good position to do that. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe see demand first hand at CDC, then we see the implications for energy demand through Longroad Energy and our other energy businesses [which include a 9% stake in Contact] and then we\u2019re seeing the practical implications of AI at scale in One NZ or our teleradiology businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Lightning rod for protest\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe today or in the future, data centres are going to become a lightning rod for protest, not just from whacko greenies but from ordinary citizens who happen to be in the vicinity of data centres,\u201d a shareholder said. (Some have already happened<\/a>.) <\/p>\n How was Infratil preparing?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very important though and CDC is very focused on maintaining its social licence to operate,\u201d Boyes said.<\/p>\n The firm had been using closed-loop water cooling for more than 18 years. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re ahead of the game on water,\u201d Boyes said.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cThe key for CDC to think about is where we build our data centres \u2013 being outside residential areas, being in industrial areas as much as you can and having buffer zones around them is really important … you\u2019re building a long way away from people so you don\u2019t have neighbour issues.\u201d<\/p>\n The Stratford data centre would be on a brownfields industrial site.<\/p>\n Distance can be relative however. CDC\u2019s most recent data centre built in northwest Auckland (see clip below) is in a light industrial area but immediately across Hobsonville Rd from suburban homes.<\/p>\n Above: CDC NZ\u2019s Hobsonville 2 data centre at 92D Hobsonville Rd, opened near the start of the company\u2019s 2026 financial year.<\/p>\n Sustainability features would be continuously improved, Boyes said.<\/p>\n It was also important to \u201czoom out\u201d and consider the wider role of data centres.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re critical infrastructure for a country,\u201d Boyes said. <\/p>\n \u201cCountries in the future will really struggle without this infrastructure. It\u2019s very economically important for a jurisdiction to have this.\u201d <\/p>\n The industry has opened up noticeably, even over the past month as the first protests have emerged. <\/p>\n