As reported in TowerXchange's latest news, Actis has named its new towerco Connectis Tower. The towerco was formed following the acquisition of the carved-out tower portfolio of Telekom Srbija comprising approximately 1,800 macro towers across Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Montenegro. The management team will be led CEO Bogdan Djukic and CFO Jovana Nikolic.
Connectis in more detail
Actis announced its acquisition from Telekom Srbija in January 2024 and has now confirmed the towerco platform created will be branded Connectis Tower. Connectis Tower aims to be a leading independent tower platform in the Balkans, operating an existing portfolio of circa 1,800 macro towers, including approximately 1,000 in Serbia, 700 in Bosnia & Herzegovina, and 100 in Montenegro, and with plans to expand this tower portfolio beginning in 2024.
Bogdan Djukic will lead the company as Group CEO. He is a seasoned leader in the telecom and infrastructure industry, with over 17 years of expertise. This is not his first towerco position, having been working for A1's carve-out EuroTeleSites as General Manager in Serbia and Slovenia and was part of the company’s management team. He has also held a number of roles including Operations Director, Procurement Director, and Managed Service Chief Operating Officer at Ericsson (Serbia and Montenegro) and led the network rollout strategy at A1 in Serbia (formerly Vip Mobile).
Jovana Nikolic joins Connectis Tower as Group CFO, with more than 17 years of experience in audit, financial leadership and corporate finance. Before joining the platform, Jovana worked as CFO of a technology scale-up where she led fundraising efforts and served as a member of the executive management team. She began her career as an auditor at KPMG and went on to hold several finance leadership roles overseeing accounting, financial operations, and financial planning and analysis. Jovana is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and member of the CFO association of Serbia.
Actis has also acquired towers in South Africa from Telkom South Africa's Gyro Group. There the towerco is known as Swiftnet. The acquisition in the Balkan's creates a second platform for expansion by Actis. The confirmaiton of the team, including Bogdan and Jovana seems to confirm further expansion plans under the Connectis Tower brand. The business will be headquartered in Belgrade, with offices in Banja Luka and Podgorica.
Number one priority will be creating a genuinely independent platform operating an optimised tower portfolio catering to the needs of network operators in the Balkans. In its launch press release the towerco emphasises the importance of independent tower companies for the sector to accelerate rollout of 5G, and facilitate widespread connectivity while minimising environmental impact by reducing the physical overlap of network infrastructure.
Commenting on the deal, Jaroslava Korpanec, Partner and Head of Central and Eastern Europe, Energy Infrastructure at Actis, said “The announcement of the Connectis Tower brand under the management of highly skilled and experienced leaders, such as Bogdan and Jovana, marks a new chapter in the platform’s life. With Actis’ global network and strong reputation, we’re able to build high performance management teams and that’s what we’re doing here – putting all the pieces in place to create a best-in-class tower platform, rooted in the Balkans, and designed to serve those markets, its network operators, and consumers. It represents an exciting investment for Actis.”
Bogdan Djukic, Group CEO at Connectis Tower, said: “I’m delighted to have joined Connectis Tower to lead and build-out a talented and committed team. We have ambitious plans to expand our tower portfolio in the coming years and to provide more opportunities for enhanced service to network operators in the Balkans. I look forward to continuing this important work with Actis and Connectis Tower to deliver an ambitious strategy in the region.”
