PowerTel junctionIt's been several years since PowerTel and...

PowerTel junction

It's been several years since PowerTel and Macquarie Corporate Telecommunications formed an alliance.

PowerTel took a 10 per cent stake in Macquarie Corporate then reached an agreement in September 2001 to place much of Macquarie's traffic on the PowerTel fibre optic network. Some people would say it is time to form a more binding relationship.

While offshore technology investor TVG is in the process of taking a majority shareholding by injecting Request Broadband into PowerTel, it should be remembered the company's infrastructure assets attracted a great deal of interest. Trevor Kennedy was also keen to wrestle control and at least one other offshore player had a close look at joining the fray last year.

That suggests there was some value to be found in the company that has a $150 million market cap but spent about $600 million on infrastructure.

Shares in PowerTel have risen 7.9per cent over the past five days, while shares in Macquarie Corporate have fallen 4.9 per cent.

PowerTel's original business plan was to operate optic fibre networks in the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane CBDs. But because access to intercity links was very expensive, the company started building its own intercapital backbone links.

To reach beyond these CBD regions, PowerTel was said to have been evaluating potential relationships with other telecommunications players and is seen as a natural aggregator.

A link with Uecomm, formed in 2000 when PowerTel was given access to buildings wired by the Alinta subsidiary, remains as compelling evidence of the logic behind PowerTel buying Uecomm, given its current parent company does not see itself as a long-term shareholder.

Meanwhile, another private equity player that launched a takeover bid in the telco/media space last year, CHAMP Ventures, will be hungry for investment opportunities now that it has closed its Investment Trust No.5 with the targeted $150 million, plus oversubscriptions.

So far $20 million of this has been invested on the Dexion storage system business and the recent management buyout of Perth-based frozen meals manufacturer Kailis & France Foods, which has a turnover of $85 million.

Another CHAMP investment the market will watch is the online rectruitment portal Seek.

CHAMP sold a large portion of its holding in Seek when Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd took a 25per cent stake, and the rest probably will come out when the dotcom is floated, presumably later this year.