Solid Start for CCI

Late Wednesday, Crown Castle reported their first quarter earnings. Industry analysts had a lot to say after the earnings were released, and after CCI held their quarterly conference call:

Colby Synesael of Cowen and Company, noted, “Crown reported good 1Q15 results including AFFO/share at the high-end of guidance after backing out some timing benefits that weren’t contemplated in guidance. The company also slightly increased its 2015 organic site rental rev. growth forecast and AFFO despite FX headwinds. As a result, we expect the stock to trade up slightly relative to the overall market.”

Jonathan Schildkraut of Evercore ISI, commented, “CCI reported solid 1Q results, with site leasing, EBITDA, and AFFO per share ahead of our estimates by 0.6%, 2.0% and 5.8% respectively. Notably, AFFO for 1Q benefitted from ~$6 million in lower than expected sustaining capex, or roughly $0.02 per share. Without this benefit, AFFO per share would have been $1.13, 4.0% ahead of our estimate. CCI also increased its FY15 outlook for site leasing, EBITDA, and AFFO per share by 0.2%, 0.1%, and 0.2%, respectively, which implies strong domestic results given the reduction in FX assumptions (moving the AUD/USD assumption to 0.76x from 0.81x).” Continue reading here. 

Not Folk-Loor, CTG Receives Funding

Communications Tower Group, a wireless infrastructure tower company, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, announced that it has received funding commitments from Indigo Capital and MCM, Inc. Indigo Capital is a New York-based private equity fund and MCM is one of the largest, privately held wireless infrastructure providers in the Northeastern U.S. MCM and Indigo Capital have extensive experience investing together in the tower sector. Since 2010, they have jointly started successful tower businesses in six countries throughout Latin America that have grown to more than 2,000 towers in operation or under development. The investment will be used to execute build-to-suit agreements, develop small cell sites, and acquire communications towers. Founder and CEO, Ricardo Loor, who has 24 years of experience in the wireless industry, will lead the company. Continue reading here. 

Tarpon Lands Big Catch

Tarpon Towers II announced this morning that it has secured over $100 million of new capital to acquire and build wireless communication towers and other wireless infrastructure. Tarpon II is a newly formed wireless communications tower company, a joint venture created by new funding consisting of a $60 million equity commitment from private equity firm, Redwood Capital Investment, LLC, and Tarpon’s management team. Additionally, Tarpon has obtained a commitment from a regional bank for a $40 million credit facility. “We are excited about partnering with Redwood Capital and continuing to invest in U.S. based assets. With Redwood Capital, we have found a partner that is committed to investing over a much longer period than traditional equity sources and has the capability and appetite to invest significantly more than the initial capital commitment,” said Ronald Bizick, Tarpon’s CEO. Continue reading here. 

Verizon to Win FirstNet?

In a research note last week, Macquarie Securities analysts, Kevin Smithen and Will Clayton, reported that they believe Verizon will win the entire FirstNet public safety project. “We believe that FirstNet, on the back of the $45 billion AWS-3 auction, will be one of the key areas of focus at the upcoming PCIA towers conference in two weeks. We are increasingly of the view that Verizon could win this project and that this could alleviate our concerns over the lack of a natural second tenant on the newly acquired Verizon sites,” they wrote. Many expect FirstNet to begin their “amendment or new tenant revue” in the tower sector between late 2016 and 2019, but it’s unsure it FirstNet will use Verizon entirely or utilize all four major carriers. FirstNet’s mission is to build, operate and maintain the first high-speed, nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to public safety.

nTelos Closes Spectrum Sale

nTelos Holdings Corp. completed the sale of its PCS wireless spectrum licenses that covers the eastern markets to T-Mobile US for $56 million in cash. The company announced last December that it would focus its business operations in the western markets, so they would be selling the spectrum assets that cover markets in Hampton Roads, Norfolk, and Richmond, Virginia. SNL Kagan reported, “Under the agreement, the company is leasing back a portion of the spectrum to continue serving customers at the eastern markets until it shuts down operations in those markets in November, according to an April 15 news release.”

AMT to Slow Down Global M&A?

Kevin Smithen and Will Clayton, analysts at Macquarie Securities, recently upgraded American Tower to “Outperform” with a target price of $107. “We believe that AMT’s management will slow down the pace of global M&A over the next 12-18 months and focus on VZ tower lease-ups and a potential public safety opportunity in 2016, despite a plethora of assets reportedly for sale in Europe, India, Africa and LatAm,” the analysts wrote. “In our view, tower stocks perform the best when there is no M&A and the companies can naturally deleverage and return excess cash to shareholders.”  Continue reading here. 

SBA Fights Proxy Access Proposal

SBA Communications is urging its stockholders to vote against a shareholder proposal concerning proxy access, SNL Kagan reported. “The Comptroller of the City of New York, the custodian of various funds that own 638,759 shares of SBA stock, urged the company to adopt a ‘proxy access’ bylaw, “SNL Kagan explained. This would require the company to open up their board nominations to shareholders. USAToday reported that a growing collective of multibillion-dollar investment funds are pushing companies to adopt “proxy access.” “More than a dozen companies have pushed back against shareholder-led changes, which has prompted investors to warn directors that they could lose votes in the upcoming election season,” USAToday reported. Without this access, directors are nominated entirely by the board, usually without input from the shareholders. Continue reading here.