The new president of Cellnex, Ane Bouverot, defined the future of the company without the CEO TobÃas MartÃnez as that of a company focused on growth without purchases after the new scenario of high rates. It is a radical change with respect to the way the company operated in its first years of life, in which it has allocated 40,000 million euros to purchases.
“We believe that there are fewer opportunities to promote purchases at this time,” the president specified during a press conference prior to the shareholders’ meeting held in Madrid, where the company has its headquarters after the transfer of 2017 as a result of the independence crisis in Catalonia. Bouverot added that the company has “made significant acquisitions”, so it is a good time “to pause” and focus on organic growth.
MartÃnez will be replaced by Marco Patuano, who was already president of the company for 18 months in 2018. Martinez has specified that now an opportunity is opening up for the company to reduce its indebtedness. The outgoing CEO stressed that there has been a “very abrupt” change in interest rates that went from negative to positive levels last year. “All companies have the obligation to adapt,” he detailed.
In his farewell, MartÃnez had words of gratitude for his team and recognized that he would have liked to enter more markets. The company is present in 12 countries with more than 135,000 locations. When the company started in 2015, it barely had 7,000 telecommunications towers. Since its IPO, the company that was a spin-off from Abertis, the shares have appreciated by almost 260%. It is one of the fastest growing companies on the Ibex.
