Spark NZ announces resignation of Alison Gerry

MARKET RELEASE 13 May 2019 Spark New Zealand announces resignation of Alison Gerry from Spark Board Spark New Zealand Chair Justine Smyth announced today that Alison Gerry has resigned as a Director of Spark New Zealand and will step down from the Spark Board with immediate effect. Ms Gerry has been a Director on the Spark Board since 2016 and is currently Chair of Spark's Audit and Risk Management Committee (ARMC). Ms Gerry is also a Director on the Board of infrastructure investment company Infratil. On Friday 10 May Infratil went into trading halt and issued a statement confirming it was in discussions with Vodafone Group Plc regarding a potential transaction involving an acquisition of Vodafone New Zealand - one of Spark's major competitors in the New Zealand market. "While according to Infratil's statement the discussions with Vodafone are 'ongoing and incomplete and may not result in a transaction occurring', Ms Gerry has offered her resignation as she is concerned about a potential or perceived conflict of interest going forward. I regretfully accepted that resignation today," said Ms Smyth. "We will greatly miss Ms Gerry's contribution on the Spark Board and as Chair of the ARMC. She is a highly qualified and extremely effective Director. We wish her every success in the future." Ms Smyth said a new Chair of the Spark ARMC would be announced in due course. ENDS For media queries, please contact: Lucy Fullarton Lead Partner, Corporate Relations +64 (0) 21 070 6197 For investor relations queries, please contact: Dean Werder Finance Lead Partner - Product and Performance +64 (0) 27 259 7176 End CA:00334458 For:SPK Type:ADMIN Time:2019-05-13 13:00:15