Barrenjoey is understood to be poised to be appointed as an adviser to sell down an interest in the smart meters of trans-Tasman business Vector. Already working on a strategic review is investment bank Citi, but the thinking is that the deal is now larger than originally expected, with a sale of all the business possibly on the cards rather than a stake. A sale is likely to see Vector's smart metering unit valued at about NZD 3 billion ($2.7 billion).

The understanding is that Barrenjoey has made a case to be included on the sell side after achieving a $1 billion result for Pacific Equity Partners and Landis + Gyr with a sale of a half share of their smart metering business Intellihub to Brookfield at the end of last year. Vector's smart metering business provides smart meter data services from more than two million electricity and gas meters in Australia and New Zealand. It opted to sell the assets after receiving approaches from prospective suitors interested in partnering and investing in the smart metering operations.