Telekom Austria has taken a significant step towards spinning off its towers business, as Ivo Ivanovski and Lars Mosdorf have been named as the future leaders of the yet-to-be-established company. The announcement provides more clarity on the timelines for creating the new towers business, which has been a topic of discussion for some time. Ivanovski and Mosdorf are tasked with preparing the business for a listing in Vienna during the second half of the year, according to Telekom Austria.
Ivo Ivanovski, currently the Head of International Regulatory & European Affairs of the A1 Telekom Austria Group, will serve as the future CEO of the towers company. He will be supported by Lars Mosdorf, who brings experience from the airports sector and most recently served as CFO, CHRO, and Management Board member at Düsseldorf Airport. The two were nominated by Telekom Austria‘s main shareholders, América Móvil and Österreichische Beteiligungs AG (ÖBAG), which agreed on the towers spin-off and flotation plan back in February.
The nominations of Ivanovski and Mosdorf are subject to the approval of the future supervisory board, and the spin-off itself still needs clearance from an extraordinary shareholder meeting expected to take place in the coming months. However, these appear to be mere formalities. Ivanovski and Mosdorf can now focus on executing the plan, as Telekom Austria stated that they “will immediately co-lead the necessary preparatory work to spin off the tower business into a separate company.”
The new towers company will have a footprint of around 12,900 towers across Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, and North Macedonia. This number is roughly one-third of the number held by GD Towers, which was partially sold by Deutsche Telekom last year at a value of €17.5 billion ($20.6 billion). Directly comparing the valuation of Telekom Austria’s towers business to GD Towers may not yield accurate results due to the differing geographical locations and market sizes. Nevertheless, the new tower company could potentially be valued at a few billion euros, marking a significant asset monetization for Telekom Austria.
