Internet service provider iiNet is set to acquire a division of AAPT from Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Ltd and according to a report by The Australian on Friday, about $60 million would change hands, with Telecom NZ also gearing to sell down 17.4 percent of its iiNet holdings to institutional investors.

Telecom NZ decided to divest the retail business operation of AAPT following its separation from the main division when bids for AAPT's collective operations failed to attract the target price of $300 million.

Also, investment banker Goldman Sachs is placing Telecom NZ's holdings of iiNet shares with institutions at offered price ranging from $2.40 to $2.50 per share, which last traded at $2.65 prior to entering a trading halt on Thursday.

The same report said that iiNet decided to enter trading halt as it awaits further developments on the looming acquisition where Telecom NZ is reportedly set to retain AAPT's wholesale fibre division which it intends to sell off later into the national broadband network.