US tower company Crown Castle has announced the appointment of Christian Hillabrant as its new president and CEO.

Hillabrant will join Crown Castle from Vantage Towers, where he has been CEO for more than two years.

He will join Crown Castle on September 15, with Vantage Towers announcing yesterday (August 4) that Nicolas Mahler will take over as interim CEO next month.

Hillabrant has been named as Steven Moskowitz's successor, following his departure from Crown Castle in March, after less than 12 months at the helm.

He replaced former CEO Jay Brown, who announced his departure in December 2023. Brown had led the company since 2016.

Crown Castle hinted in its recent earnings call that it was close to a decision, noting that it was pushing to make an appointment quickly.

“Chris is a respected global telecommunications leader with a strong track record of driving performance. His deep industry expertise – particularly in managing tower infrastructure at scale – positions him well to lead Crown Castle into its next chapter as a pure-play US tower company," said P. Robert Bartolo, chair of the Crown Castle board of directors.

Pure tower play

Hillabrant has worked in the telecoms industry for more than three decades, holding senior management positions at T-Mobile, Ericsson AB, and Samsung.

His most recent role has been at Vantage Towers, where he's served as CEO and chairman of the management board. The tower company manages more than 86,000 tower sites across ten countries.

Hillabrant will oversee Crown Castle's ambitions to focus as a pure tower player in the US, following the company's decision to sell its small cells and fiber assets for a combined $8.5 billion.

It currently owns and operates more than 40,000 telecom towers.

“I’m energized by the opportunities ahead for Crown Castle as a focused, pure-play US tower company, and am fully aligned with the long-term strategy and capital allocation framework laid out in March," said Hillabrant. "I look forward to working alongside the Board and leadership team to oversee the continued successful execution of this strategy and drive enhanced value for our shareholders.”

Dan Schlanger will continue to serve as Crown Castle's interim president and CEO until Hillabrant joins.

Now it's Vantage's turn to find a CEO

As Crown Castle's search for a permanent CEO comes to an end, Vantage Towers has started a comprehensive search for Hillabrant's replacement.

For now, the company will be led by Mahler, who is the chief financial officer at the German tower subsidiary of Vodafone.

Vantage also confirmed that its CTO and managing director for Germany, Jean-Claude Geha, will join the management board.

In November 2022, Vodafone sold off some of its Vantage Towers unit, creating a new joint venture with KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) in the process.

Last year, Vodafone sold another 10 percent stake in its tower business for €1.3 billion ($1.5bn).

Vodafone shifted its 81.7 percent holding in Vantage into a JV with KKR and GIP, called Oak Holdings.

Following the transaction, Oak Holdings today owns an 89 percent stake in Vantage Towers, while Vodafone now owns 50 percent of Oak Holdings.