AGL is pleased to announce it has finalised its acquisition of Southern Phone Company.

Over the past few weeks, 35 councils agreed to sell their respective shares in Southern Phone to AGL for $785,714 following an initial investment of $2 in 2002.

The total deal was worth $27.5 million and marks AGL’s move into data and telecommunications.

AGL CEO and Managing Director, Brett Redman, said today was new era for AGL as it converges energy and data together, in a bid to create more streamlined services for the ever-growing connected customer.

“This deal is very meaningful to our growth, but I also hope that the sale allows these hard-working councils to continue delivering a range of important projects for their communities.”

“We know many of the councils who will receive this money have been struggling through drought and the recent devastating bushfires, so we hope that this provides a critical boost to their budgets during these challenging times.”

Since 2002, Southern Phone has grown to become one of Australia’s largest regional telecommunications companies with more than 100,000 customers across Australia.

“The finalisation of this deal today really is a testament to the councils and 150 workers at Southern Phone who have grown the business into what it is today. Our goal is to further build on their success.”

“We remain confident that AGL can continue to evolve as a multi-product brand across energy, data and related products.”