Vantage Towers
Vantage Towers site near Bad Camberg | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | May 2020 |
| Founder | Vodafone Group |
| Headquarters | , Germany |
Number of locations | 87,824 (2025) |
Area served | |
Key people | |
| Products | Telecommunications infrastructures |
| Revenue | €665.9 million (Vantage Towers AG standalone) (2024/25) |
| €0 (2024/25)[1] (2024/25) | |
| Total assets | €12,282.3 million (Vantage Towers AG standalone) (2024/25) |
| Owner | Oak Holdings |
Number of employees | 711 (2022/23) |
| Parent | |
| Subsidiaries | INWIT (37.61%) |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references Annual Report 2022/23[2][3][4][5] | |
Vantage Towers is a European infrastructure company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. The company is involved in the construction, management, and leasing of towers, antenna masts, and other facilities to mobile network operators.[6]
Previously, Vantage Towers was a subsidiary of the British telecommunications company Vodafone Group and was listed on the stock exchange from 2021 to 2023.[7] In terms of sites and turnover, Vantage Towers is among the largest infrastructure companies in Europe.
History
In July 2019, the British Vodafone Group announced the creation of a new business unit that would include the Group's cell towers and masts.[8] This move was part of the broader trend towards separating passive infrastructure and active network components in mobile networks.[9] The infrastructure company was headquartered in Germany. Vantage Towers began operating in May 2020.[10]
In 2020, Vodafone Group declared its intention to list its subsidiary on the stock exchange.[11] The IPO took place in March 2021; approximately one-fifth of the shares were initially sold, with a total market value of €2.2 billion.[12] The proceeds enabled the Vodafone Group to reduce its debt level.[13] Concurrently, Vantage Towers obtained the requisite capital to facilitate its global expansion, for example in Greece.[14]
In early 2022, preliminary indications emerged that a number of institutional investors were expressing interest in Vantage Towers.[15] In December, the management board recommended that the acquisition offer from Oak Holdings be accepted.[16] Oak Holdings is a joint venture of the Vodafone Group, GIP and KKR. Following the acquisition of more than 80% of Vantage Towers shares by Oak Holdings in November 2022, the company was delisted in May 2023. As of March 2025, Oak Holdings holds approximately 89.32% of Vantage Towers shares.[5]
Business activities
Vantage Towers currently operates 87,824 sites in ten European countries (as of March 2025).[17] The largest markets are those of Germany, Spain and Greece.
The company's principal objective is to construct, operate and subsequently lease passive network infrastructure for mobile communications.[18] This includes ground-based tower sites (GBT) and rooftop tower sites (RTT), as well as so-called smart cells for tunnels, larger buildings, and other environments.[19] The company provides additional services, from site operation to maintenance.
Vantage Towers leases its infrastructure to telecommunications companies, energy suppliers and IoT providers. As part of this business model, competitors usually are sharing sites. In most markets, the company's customers includes all of the country's major mobile network operators.[20] Accordingly, the company characterizes itself as a neutral host.[21]
Joint ventures and associates
Vantage Towers has significant stakes in two other tower companies based in the UK and Italy: Cornerstone (50% as of March 2025) and INWIT (37.61% as of March 2025).[5]
Cornerstone
Cornerstone is a private company with 325 employees as of March 2025.[22] Cornerstone was started as a joint venture between Vodafone Group and Telefónica UK on 29 May 2012.[23] Then on 14 January 2021 half of the company was acquired by Vantage Towers for an undisclosed amount.[24] Cornerstone currently manages approximately 15,844 sites across the United Kingdom.[5]
INWIT
INWIT was originally founded in 2015 as a spin-off of Telecom Italia's (TIM) tower assets. Vantage Towers began their involvement from a 2020 merger in which Vodafone Italy combined its own tower infrastructure with INWIT to create Italy's largest tower operator. As part of this consolidation, Vodafone acquired a co-controlling stake in the combined entity, which was subsequently transformed into Vantage Towers.[25] INWIT has approximately 25,000 macro sites as of March 2025.[5]
Tenancy ratios
The tenancy ratio is defined as the total number of tenancies (including physical and active sharing tenancies) on macro sites divided by the total number of macro sites.[5]
As of 31 March 2025, the average tenancy ratio in the consolidated markets was 1.53x, up from 1.50x as of 31 March 2024.[5]
The following table shows the tenancy ratios by market segment as of 31 March 2025 compared to 31 March 2024:[5]
| Market | 31 March 2025 | 31 March 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 1.30x | 1.26x |
| Spain | 1.92x | 1.91x |
| Greece | 1.79x | 1.74x |
| Other European Markets | 1.53x | 1.50x |
| Total | 1.53x | 1.50x |
For associates and joint ventures (as reported):
| Market | 31 March 2025 | 31 March 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Italy (INWIT)[26] | 2.32x | 2.23x |
| United Kingdom (Cornerstone)[27] | 1.90x | 1.91x |
Notes and references
- ^ Due to the domination and profit and loss transfer agreement with Oak Holdings GmbH (effective 1 April 2023), the entire net profit (€371.6 million in FY 2024/25) is transferred to the parent, resulting in €0 retained net income at Vantage Towers AG level. Source: Annual financial statements of Vantage Towers AG for FY 2025, p. relevant sections on profit transfer and P&L account.
- ^ Annual Report 2022/23 (PDF), retrieved July 24, 2024
- ^ "Martin Bouchard appointed CEO of Vantage Towers" (PDF). Vantage Towers. November 4, 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ^ "Annual financial statements and management report of Vantage Towers AG – FY 2024/25" (PDF). Vantage Towers AG. September 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Consolidated Financial Statements and the Group Management Report of Oak Holdings 1 GmbH for the year ended 31 March 2025" (PDF). Oak Holdings 1 GmbH. July 2025. pp. 6, 19 (Joint Ventures and Associates section). Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ^ Calatayud, Adria (January 15, 2021), "European Telecom Towers Become Hot Assets Amid 5G Rollout", The Wall Street Journal, retrieved July 22, 2024
- ^ Kantouar, Najat (July 22, 2024), "Vodafone Group Sells Further 10% Stake in Vantage Towers for $1.4 Billion", Wall Street Journal, retrieved July 23, 2024
- ^ Ralph, Alex (July 27, 2019), "Vodafone to Cut Mobile Masts Loose in €18bn Spin-off", The Times, retrieved May 15, 2024
- ^ Müller-Arnold, Benedikt (November 18, 2020), "Vodafone bringt Türme aufs Parkett", Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German), p. 31
- ^ Rohde, Heidi (November 18, 2020), "Vantage Towers zeigt Muskeln", Börsen-Zeitung (in German), p. 7
- ^ Fildes, Nic (March 9, 2021), "Vodafone to Raise €2.8bn via Vantage Tower IPO", Financial Times, retrieved July 23, 2024
- ^ Papon, Kerstin (December 14, 2021), "Rekorde der Aktienkurse: Bestes Jahr für Börsengänge seit 21 Jahren", Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German), retrieved May 15, 2024
- ^ Kowalewsky, Reinhard (March 19, 2021), "Neuer Börsenstar aus Düsseldorf", Rheinische Post (in German), p. 9
- ^ Koutoumanos, Panagiotis (March 26, 2021), "Vantage Towers expandiert in Griechenland", Frankfurter Neue Presse (in German), retrieved May 15, 2024
- ^ A. Daga; P. Barbaglia; A. Gonzalez (March 18, 2022), "Infra Funds Circle Vodafone for $16 Billion Vantage Towers Deal", Reuters, retrieved May 15, 2024
- ^ Ruhkamp, Christoph (December 14, 2022), "Offerte startet für Vantage Towers", Börsen-Zeitung (in German), p. 9
- ^ "Consolidated Financial Statements and the Group Management Report of Oak Holdings 1 GmbH for the year ended 31 March 2025" (PDF). Oak Holdings 1 GmbH. July 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ^ Sweney, Mark (July 26, 2019), "Vodafone to Sell Off 60,000 Mobile Masts for €20bn", The Guardian, retrieved July 23, 2024
- ^ Morahan, George (August 2, 2022), "Obelisk To Make Vantage Towers' Infrastructure Sustainable", Business Plus, retrieved July 23, 2024
- ^ Agnew, Richard (December 3, 2021), "1&1 Offers Challenging Maths for Vantage and Vodafone", TelcoTitans, retrieved July 23, 2024
- ^ Le Maistre, Ray (February 15, 2021), "Vantage Towers Aims to Be '5G Superhost'", TelecomTV, retrieved July 23, 2024
- ^ "Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited - Company Profile". Pomanda. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ^ "Cornerstone celebrates its tenth anniversary". Cornerstone. May 27, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ^ "Annual Financial Statements and Combined Management Report for the fiscal year from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021" (PDF). Vantage Towers. 2021. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ^ "Closing of the transaction between TIM and Vodafone relating to INWIT". Gruppo TIM. 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ^ Associate, data as of 31 December 2024.
- ^ Joint venture.