Big Deal for Dish

Dish Network revealed their plan to offer wireless voice, video, and data services, according to Yahoo Finance. This isn’t too big of a surprise after the company snatched up nearly half of the spectrum licenses in the AWS-3 auction (although, the licenses have yet to be distributed due to the investigation into the Designated Entity usage). Yahoo Finance obtained confidential a document that indicates Dish is seeking a chief marketing officer to help guide its move into the wireless space. “We are preparing for something big,” the document said, later proclaiming, “This is an incredibly exciting time in our history. We have reinvented ourselves in the past, and we are preparing to do it again.” (Yahoo Finance) Continue reading here. 

Phoenix Tower Spreads its Wings

Phoenix Tower International, a company that owns and operates towers and other wireless infrastructure related sites through Latin America and the U.S., announced the closing of a seven year credit facility between its local subsidiaries in Costa Rica and Panama as well as a consortium of lenders led by Banco General, S.A. joined by Towerbank, Metrobank and Banco General (Costa Rica). The credit facility provides debt financing on PTI’s existing wireless infrastructure as well as additional financing for new tower development and acquisitions of wireless infrastructure in Costa Rica and Panama. “The closing of this credit facility with Banco General, enhances PTI’s ongoing commitment to its customers in Costa Rica and Panama. Banco General is a market leader in tower financing in Central America and we are excited to work with them in our continued growth across the region,” stated Dagan Kasavana, Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Tower International. Continue reading here. 

CCI Sells Australian Subsidiary to Fund Small Cells

Crown Castle International announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Australian subsidiary (CCAL) to a consortium of investors led by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $2.0 billion in cash, or approximately $1.6 billion assuming an exchange rate of 0.80 US dollars to the Australian dollar. Upon consummation of the transaction, Crown Castle expects to receive net proceeds of approximately $1.3 billion after accounting for its ownership interest, repayment of intercompany debt owed to it by CCAL, and estimated transaction fees and expenses. “The sale of CCAL allows us to redeploy capital towards our growing small cell networks, which we expect will be accretive to our long-term AFFO and dividend per share growth rates,” stated Ben Moreland, Crown Castle’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We believe we are in the early stages of small cells deployment and are excited by the opportunities that we see ahead of us. While CCAL has been a great contributor to our business, our decision to divest this business is opportunistic and allows us to re-allocate capital to growth enhancing initiatives in the US market, which we believe is the most attractive wireless market in the world for wireless investment. ” Continue reading here. 

Deal Talk Down Under

Crown Castle is expecting for bids for its Australian tower subsidiary, Crown Castle Australia, this week and wants a deal signed by the end of next week, the Australian Financial Review reported. They reported UBS has been advising Morrison & Co., a New Zealand infrastructure company, in its offer for the $1.5 billion company. “Morrison is up against fellow infrastructure managers Brookfield and Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets. As Street Talk reported a fortnight [two weeks] ago, Brookfield has teamed up with Digital Bridge Holdings, a US-based private equity firm run by Marc Ganzi and former Blackstone telecom chief Ben Jenkins,” the Australian Financial Review explained. Continue reading here. 

InSite Capitalizes on Growth

InSite Wireless Group, one of the largest privately owned tower and wireless infrastructure companies in the U.S., has acquired specific DAS and telecommunications assets of Capital Tower Group. InSite has also appointed Richard Grimes, former Chief Executive and Co-Founder of Capital Tower Group, as its Chief Operating Officer of DAS and Small Cells Group. “We looked closely at the quality of leadership at CTG, as well as their deal portfolio, and it made sound business and strategic sense to reach out in an effort to bring both of those assets into our growing company,” said David E. Weisman, President and CEO of InSite. “This acquisition avails us of a top-tier senior executive in Rich Grimes, whose knowledge and reputation in the wireless infrastructure industry is excellent and well known. It also adds several DAS locations to InSite’s existing portfolio, along with an immediate influx of new business opportunities.” Continue reading here. 

Los Angeles Rocks Seismic Standards

Los Angeles, California, is close to having the first-ever (in the U.S.) seismic standards for constructing cell towers, according to Reuters. County leaders gave preliminary approval on Friday of regulations that will ensure residents will be able to communication following a major earthquake. The rules still need to be approved by the Los Angeles City Council, which could occur as early as this week. “In the event of an earthquake or major disaster, the ability for our first responders to communicate, and for everyday Angelenos to call for help or reach out to our friends, family and loved ones, is critical in our ability to respond to and recover from traumatic events,” City Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who sponsored the measure, said in a written statement. Continue reading here. 

Crown Castle Adds More Fiber to Diet

After Crown Castle’s announcement that they would be acquiring Sunesys, and the company’s 10,000 miles of fiber, analysts were curious whether this is solely for their small cell undertaking or something else. Colby Synesael of Cowen and Company noted, “At $1 billion we can’t simply argue they are getting underutilized fiber assets that they can use for their small-cell strategy. We still like Crown as our favorite tower idea and think what they are doing makes sense, but we do think the deal means they’ve gone down a path that wasn’t previously considered.” During the quarterly conference call, it was made clear that this is the company’s fifth fiber acquisitions, including two other transactions discussed on the call, Access Fiber Group and another company. While both deals are much smaller than the Sunesys deal, they are crucial to the business plan. “At $1 billion (and 15x last twelve months EBITDA) we can’t simply argue they are getting underutilized fiber assets that they can use for their small-cell strategy,” Synesael explained. Continue reading here.