Dgtl Infra provides a roundup of communications towers M&A activity and partnerships announced during the month of May 2022. Tower infrastructure providers including Skyway Towers, CTI Towers, TowerCo, and Diamond Communications all make May 2022’s communications towers roundup list.
Basalt Buys Skyway Towers – May 27, 2022
Basalt Infrastructure Partners, an infrastructure private equity firm, through its Basalt Infrastructure Partners III fund, announced that it has acquired Skyway Towers, LLC from Tinicum L.P. and affiliated entities.
Prior to Basalt Infrastructure’s acquisition, Tinicum had been an investor in Skyway Towers since 2005, an investment period of 17 years.
Skyway Towers
Skyway Towers is a United States telecommunications infrastructure developer that owns and operates multi-tenant communications towers. Presently, the company’s existing portfolio consists of over 400 communications towers spanning 30 states, which primarily supports wireless carriers.
Skyway Towers is led by Scott Behuniak as President & COO.
Transaction Advisors
Basalt Infrastructure’s financial advisor was TD Securities. Additionally, Basalt Infrastructure’s legal advisor was Latham & Watkins.
Skyway Towers’ financial advisor was Houlihan Lokey. Also, Skyway Towers’ legal advisor was Fredrikson & Byron.
Basalt Infrastructure Partners
Basalt Infrastructure Partners focuses on mid-market investments in the infrastructure sectors of utilities, power, transport, and digital, in North America and Europe. Within digital infrastructure, Basalt has experience investing in the fiber sub-sector through its portfolio companies: Connect Fibre, FullFibre, Manx Telecom, and goetel.
Notably, the Skyway Towers transaction marks Basalt Infrastructure’s first digital infrastructure investment in North America.
CTI Towers Acquires SCI Towers – May 26, 2022
CTI Towers, Inc., an owner and manager of wireless towers, which is backed by Palistar Capital (formerly known as Melody Investment Advisors), announced the completion of its acquisition of SCI Towers, LLC, an independent communications tower developer with whom it had a joint venture partnership since 2016.
SCI Towers
SCI Towers was founded in 2011 by Dave Herring and Lee Chapman. The company is a communications tower developer focused on the Southeastern United States. Further, SCI Towers has provided build-to-suit (BTS) solutions for wireless carriers including AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
Originally, SCI Towers was formed as the tower development subsidiary of Site Concepts, Inc., a site acquisition, zoning, and construction management consulting firm in South Florida.
CTI Towers
CTI Towers is based in Morrisville, North Carolina, and leases its tower infrastructure to wireless carriers Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and DISH Network, as well as broadcasters, utility companies, internet service providers (ISPs), and government entities. Presently, CTI Towers owns and manages nearly 1.2k towers in 47 states across the United States.
With the acquisition of SCI Towers, CTI adds a significant number of recently-built towers as well as sites in development to its portfolio.
CTI Towers is led by David Bacino as Chief Executive Officer.
Palistar Capital
Palistar Capital is currently investing out of the Melody Communications Infrastructure Fund II, which has $1.95bn in equity capital commitments. Beyond CTI Towers and within digital infrastructure, Palistar Capital owns stakes in Harmoni Towers (formerly Uniti Towers) and Symphony Wireless.
In October 2020, Palistar Capital’s Melody Communications Infrastructure Fund II acquired CTI Towers from a shareholder group led by Comcast Ventures, Comcast Corporation’s venture capital division.
TowerCo and Norfolk Southern Partner – May 23, 2022
TowerCo, a wireless infrastructure company that builds, owns, and manages communication towers and properties, announced a strategic partnership with Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC), a railroad operator, to expand market opportunities to develop wireless infrastructure along Norfolk Southern’s rights-of-way and industrial real estate parcels.
As such, TowerCo will be able to offer wireless carriers more build-to-suit (BTS) opportunities through new communications towers, leveraging Norfolk Southern’s real estate portfolio along more than 19.3k miles of track in 22 states.
As part of the partnership, Norfolk Southern will have the right to reserve space on the towers to install new or relocated railroad communications equipment. In turn, this will help Norfolk Southern enhance its signaling and two-way communications infrastructure.
TowerCo
TowerCo owns, builds, and manages a portfolio of communication towers and properties for colocation, including over 6.0k land and rooftop assets and over 1.3k owned and managed towers. The company is backed by Peppertree Capital Management, who, in January 2019, committed $300m of equity capital to fund future growth of the company.
TowerCo is led by Todd Boyer as Chief Executive Officer.
Diamond Communications, LAZ Parking – May 2, 2022
Diamond Communications, an independent tower company in the United States, which is backed by Sculptor Capital Management (formerly known as Och-Ziff), announced that it has partnered with LAZ Parking to market 3.4k parking garages and related properties owned and managed by LAZ to wireless service providers. Specifically, these locations may be suitable for wireless equipment deployment on existing structures or newly developed towers.
Presently, LAZ Parking’s 3.4k parking garages span over 450 cities across the United States.
Diamond Communications is led by Ed Farscht as Chief Executive Officer.
