Deutsche Telekom to sell majority stake in towers business

Deutsche Telekom has agreed to sell a majority stake in GD Towers, in a deal that will give its towers business an enterprise value of €17.5bn.

The German telecoms group said on Thursday that a consortium of Canadian asset manager Brookfield and US private equity firm DigitalBridge would take a 51 per cent stake in GD Towers, with Deutsche Telekom retaining the remainder.

In a statement, Deutsche Telekom chief executive Tim Höttges said the sale created value for shareholders. “At the same time, the deal allows us to continue improving Deutsche Telekom’s undisputed network leadership in Germany and benefit from further value upside of the towers business through our retained 49 per cent stake,” he added.

The proceeds of the sale will be used to reduce Deutsche Telekom’s debt and speed up its goal of acquiring a majority share in US subsidiary T-Mobile, the group said.

GD Towers operates roughly 40,000 sites in Germany and Austria and employs about 800 staff. In Deutsche Telekom’s most recent results in May, the towers business posted first-quarter revenues of €284mn.

“The partnership being formed today is about building the next generation digital infrastructure champion of Europe,” said Marc Ganzi, DigitalBridge chief executive.