Cellnex Telecom has announced the resignation of the company's current CEO, Tobías Martínez, from his position as chief executive, a decision that will be effective from the next General Shareholders' Meeting scheduled for June 1.

Martinez's eight years at the helm of Cellnex have been marked by the profound transformation of the company, which today is the most valued telecommunications company on the Ibex, above others such as Telefónica, and within the

top ten

listed on the main Spanish stock market index.

His business has gone from 7,500 telecommunications towers in a single country to

138,000 in 12 countries

, with Martínez as a strong man.

This infrastructure company accredits a particularly pronounced presence in Spain and, followed by this order, in Poland, the United Kingdom, France and Italy.

"The current economic and financial context demands that we open a new chapter in Cellnex's story. A new stage based on maximizing organic growth; the consolidation of the industrial project in the countries where we operate today; and the focus on management of the balance sheet with the objective of reaching

investment grade

This set of factors has led me to assess the need for this stage of Cellnex's evolution to be led by

a person whose time perspective extends beyond December 2024

, the moment my contract ends," Martínez explained.

"At this stage, Cellnex has developed to become the main

independent operator of telecommunications infrastructures in Europe

, also playing a leading role, and has become a world benchmark", underlined Bertrand Kan, president of the Cellnex Board of Directors: "Tobías has led Cellnex's transition

from a national operator, focused on the Spanish market, to a European parent company with vision, energy, criteria and good judgment

with presence in 12 countries.

In the process, the company has significantly multiplied the volume of its operations, resulting in an increase in its market value from 3,200 million euros at the time of the IPO, to 23,000 million today, representing an annual return for our 18% shareholders'". The market has reacted negatively to Martinex's goodbye, with falls of more than 2%.

Martínez alludes to "professional and personal" reasons for leaving the company, convinced of the need for the new cycle to be led by another profile.

"In this sense

, I am only anticipating a natural transition process for a few months

that was already, in itself, close," argues the executive, who has been in front-line positions in the sector for more than 20 years, initially at Tradia and Retevisión. and later from Abertis Telecom, from where Cellnex emerged.

Martínez was the general director of Abertis Telecom and in 2014 he drew up with Francisco Reynés, then CEO of Abertis, a project to maximize the telecommunications infrastructure branch, through service to operators with infrastructure and transport of their signals.

Thus, a business that focused on radio broadcasting (El Pirulí belongs to Cellnex) turned to telecommunications and the data that emerged from the telephony sector.

The company has managed to take advantage of the fact that many telephone operators have chosen to divest themselves of their infrastructures to focus on the core of their business and be able to assume the powerful investments they face, for example those linked to 5G.

Cellnex has thus been able to buy numerous assets across the continent to position itself as a European benchmark and come to compete with international competitors such as the US American Tower Corporation (ATC).

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