BERLIN (Reuters) -Deutsche Telekom announced on Thursday that it would sell 51% of its tower business to a consortium of Canada’s Brookfield and private equity group DigitalBridge Group Inc after they placed a surprise bid.
The stake in GD Towers comes at an enterprise value of 17.5 billion euros ($17.53 billion), Deutsche Telekom said in a statement.
The German telecoms giant will keep the remaining 49% stake.
The transaction, which is expected to close towards the end of this year, would reduce Deutsche Telekom’s financial debt by 10.7 billion euros, the company said, as it works towards acquiring a majority share in its T-Mobile U.S. subsidiary.
“We crystalise the value of our tower assets, thereby creating value for our shareholders,” said Tim Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom.
($1 = 0.9981 euros)
(Writing by Rachel More; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
