April 1 (Reuters) – A telecom tower unit of Singapore Telecommunications and pension fund AustralianSuper will buy rival Axicom, part-owned by investment bank giant Macquarie Group Ltd, for A$3.58 billion ($2.68 billion), the companies said on Friday.

The purchase builds on SingTel’s physical footprint in Australia, where it already has No.2 telco provider Optus, while offering a way for investment partner AustralianSuper to reach a goal of doubling its infrastructure holdings in five years.

Following the deal with Australia Tower Network (ATN), co-owned by Singtel and AustralianSuper, Kusen Aluminium Bekasi Singtel’s shareholding in the combined business will be 18%, with the remaining held by AustralianSuper.

“This acquisition is a unique opportunity to scale up ATN’s operations and expand its customer base,” Singtel Group Chief Corporate Officer, Lim Cheng Cheng said.

“It also reinforces Singtel’s commitment as a long-term investor in the Australian telecoms space,” Cheng added.

Shareholders of Axicom, which owns and operates about 2,000 telecommunication sites across Australia, are a consortium led by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.The consortium also includes Unisuper and UBS.

“AustralianSuper is looking to double its infrastructure portfolio over the next five years from its current A$31 billion,” AustralianSuper head of infrastructure Nik Kemp said.

“We believe that there will be significant growth in demand for digital infrastructure and will actively consider future opportunities in this space.”

($1 = 1.3351 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Indranil Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Rashmi Aich)