* Follows moves by Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone
* Group to retain control of mobile network
* Aimed at shoring up group value
* Shares down 3.8%
(Adds quotes, details, background)
By Mathieu Rosemain
PARIS, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Orange said it planned to
carve out its mobile towers in most European countries where it
is present, in a move aimed at shoring up the telecom group's
value as tough competition in the region has hampered its growth
and margins.
The French telecoms operator is following similar moves by
other European companies that are looking at selling mobile
networks as in valuations for infrastructure assets sky-rocket
amid growing appetite from investors, such as U.S. private
equity firm KKR and Spain's Cellnex.
Bigger rivals Deutsche Telekom and Britain's
Vodafone have separated their mast mobile assets and are
seeking to sell part of them via a listing or a private sale.
Shares in Vodafone, the world's
second-largest mobile operator, rose as much as 10% when it
announced plans to spin off its mobile masts.
"Today, we believe that the value of our all of our networks
isn't reflected in our stock prices," Orange Chief Executive
Stephane Richard said.
Orange's mobile towers could be worth around 10 billion
euros ($11 billion), analysts have estimated, while Citi said
their value may reach 13 billion euros, or 20 times the
operating results generated by towers.
France's former telecoms monopoly said that it owned about
40,000 towers of its mobile network on the continent. The first
"TowerCos" will be created in France and Spain, the company's
two biggest markets, in 2020.
The Paris-based company will retain control over all these
new entities and is hoping to eventually merge them into a
European company. This entity will also be majority-owned by
Orange.
The group also said it was selling 1,500 mobile masts to
Spain's Cellnex for 260 million euros.
The divestments were part of Orange's five-year strategic
plan, in which it said it would share the deployment of
high-speed fibre broadband technology with other operators
through dedicated companies that could be opened up to outside
investors.
Orange shares fell 3.8% in early trade, with some traders
citing disappointment over the company's dividend outlook. It
said it will pay out a minimum annual dividend of 70 cents per
share over the period.
($1 = 0.9073 euros)
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain;
Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Louise Heavens)
Vodafone (VOD)