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German operator could raise 5 billion from sale of mobile masts in its home market, sources say.
Deutsche Telekom could look to raise up to €5 billion from the sale of mobile phone towers in its home market, according to media reports on Friday.
The telco has appointed Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to organise an auction of the towers in the autumn, Reuters claimed, citing two unnamed sources. It hopes the value of the towers will come in at €4 billion-€5 billion, they said.
It will send out information to prospective buyers after the summer and will make a decision based on their feedback whether to push ahead with a full stake, to offload a stake in its towers business, or retain it.
Friday’s report is not the first time there has been talk of Deutsche Telekom divesting its towers in recent months.
In March Bloomberg reported that the telco was considering a possible spinoff or IPO of its infrastructure assets, including mobile phone towers.
And Deutsche Telekom CFO Thomas Dennenfeldt noted during the telco’s fourth-quarter results call that it is considering monetising its towers in some way, noting that it has some 40,000 cell sites across Europe.
The operator declined to comment to Reuters though.
The newswire’s sources said such a move would enable it to free up funds to invest in its European networks.
They expect the telco to approach infrastructure investors, insurers, pension funds and private equity groups about the potential sale.
